Owen W. Wells was born in Kittery, Maine in 1943. He attended the University of Maine, graduating in 1965 and subsequently graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1968. He served as a Captain in the United States Army in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster.

From 1972 to 1997, Mr. Wells was a partner, director and shareholder of Perkins Thompson. He is presently Of Counsel to the firm. He is admitted to the Bars of the State of Maine, United States District Court and United States Supreme Court and is a charter Fellow of the Maine Bar Foundation. He is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Mr. Wells formerly served as President of the Cumberland Bar Association, President of the Portland Museum of Art and Chairman of the President's Advisory Council of the University of Maine, President of the Board of Overseers of Berwick Academy, and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. From 1990 to 1995 he served as a Trustee of the University of Maine System. He has also served as a Trustee of Maine Public Broadcasting.

He is a Trustee and Chairman of the Board of the Maine Medical Center, a Trustee of MaineHealth, and Trustee of the Libra Foundation. Mr. Wells serves as a Director of Irving Oil Corporation as well as an Overseer of Colby College.

Publications include: "Investing in Maine's Higher Education"; "Maine Choices: 1995"; Maine Center for Economic Policy.