Called "the best governor in America" by National Review magazine, Bill Owens was sworn in as Colorado's 40th governor in January 1999. He was re-elected in 2002 with the greatest majority in Colorado history, earning a broad mandate for his innovative leadership.

Owens brought to public service a successful business background. After completing graduate school at the University of Texas—where he was awarded a full fellowship—Owens joined the consulting staff at Touche Ross & Co., now Deloitte. He moved to Colorado in 1977 to join the internal consulting staff at the Gates Corporation, a Denver-based billion-dollar industrial products company. Owens then worked for 14 years as executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Association, which represented more than 400 energy firms doing business in the Rockies.

Touted as one of the major leaders in American politics by The Economist magazine, Governor Owens was also identified as one of the country's top 10 rising political stars by syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

The respect he has earned extends around the world. Governor Owens is a regular speaker and panelist at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Rand Russian-American Business Forum in Moscow. He has been a guest lecturer at Moscow State University, the University of Kazan, New Russian University (Moscow), British/American University in Alma Aty, Kazakhstan, and the University of Dublin.

Owens is a frequent participant on national television shows including the Today Show, Good Morning America, The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes and Larry King, as well as a commentator on CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC and Bloomberg.