Bouwman obtained his Master of Arts in Political Science at the VU University Amsterdam in 1979, his Doctor of Philosophy at Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Social Science in 1986, and a degree in computer science at the Open University in the Netherlands in 1992.
Bouwman started his career as Assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam in 1985. From 1996 to 1998 he was Senior Consultant at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, and Associate Professor in Mass Communication and Communication Management at the University Utrecht from 1996 to 1999. Since 1998 he is Associate professor Information and Communication Technology at Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, and since 2011 Distinguished Professor at the Åbo Akademi University.
Bouwman was Visiting Professor at the Syracuse University in 2004 and at the Northwestern University in 2009.
