Background
Bowler was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but moved to Australia when he was young, and was raised in Brisbane.
Bowler was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but moved to Australia when he was young, and was raised in Brisbane.
He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne Patterson in Blue Heelers and Wolfgang West in Outrageous Fortune. He also appeared as Wilhelmina Slater"s love interest Connor Owens in Ugly Betty. In November 2010, he was announced as the host of The Amazing Race Australia.
He starred as Joshua Nolan on the Syfy television series Defiance.
Bowler is a graduate of the Australian drama school National Institute of Dramatic Art, alongside other graduates including Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Baz Luhrmann, and Sam Worthington. His first television role was as Constable Wayne Patterson on Blue Heelers, from 1993 to 1996.
After leaving that show, he spent time on Pacific Drive in 1996 and Medivac from 1996 to 1998. He had recurring roles on Always Greener and Stingers, starred in the television adaptation of On the Beach, spent a year on the American Broadcasting Company series Something in the Air, and starred in the 2004 miniseries Through My Eyes about the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain.
Bowler had a recurring role on All Saints from 2004 to 2005.
Bowler also hosted the Australian version of The Mole, hosting the show from 2000 to 2003. He was replaced as host on the 2005 series by Tom Williams because of family commitments and hosting duties with Border Security. Bowler serves as the narrator of the reality show Border Security: Australia"s Front Lincolnshire, a duty which he began as host in 2004, though he stopped appearing on camera after the first season.
Bowler starred in the New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune.
Bowler"s acting career has developed since he first began playing Wolf, but although the character is not in every episode, he has turned down other roles to continue in Outrageous Fortune. Starting with the season four episode "Ji Yeon", Bowler plays the guest role of Captain Gault, the captain of a freighter on the popular American television series Lost.
He also appeared in Canal Road. In 2008, he became a recurring regular on Ugly Betty, in which he played the corrupt Chief Financial Officer of Meade Publications (Connor Owens) who romanced the series" main villain Wilhelmina Slater.
Bowler said of his character, "He"s got a lot of evil secrets." In December 2009, he was cast in the role of Cooter, a werewolf, in the Home Box Office urban fantasy series True Blood, for that show"s third season.
He played Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged: Participant I (2011), the first part of a planned three-part film adaptation of Ayn Rand"s novel of the same name. He was also seen in 2011 in The City of Gardens, as well as the film Killer Elite. In 2012, Bowler was cast as Richard Burton opposite Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor in the biographical television-movie Liz & Dick for Lifetime in the United States. He was seen in the war drama Gallipoli, released in 2015 on Channel 9, Australia.
Bowler will next be seen in psychological action film Swelter, alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Alfred Molina, in the sci-fi thriller 400 Days with Brandon Routh and Dane Cook, Lucky Dog with Amy Smart, and the family movie, Zooey to the Max.
