He played rugby league and competed in swimming for his school until he was twelve, when he went to the outback to work at a drover"s camp during the Great Depression. At the age of fourteen, he had his first professional fight. During World World War II, he was a gunner in the 2/2 Tank Attack Regiment of the Australian Army, and after the war, he toured Australia as part of a tag team professional wrestling circuit.
In 1963 he had a cerebral haemorrhage after a coalmining accident, and became a quadriplegic.
He spent six months in the spinal unit of the Princess Alexandra Hospital and then went to the Kingshome Rehabilitation Centre, where he was introduced to wheelchair sport. He died on 17 September 2002 at the age of 82.
He was nicknamed "Chook". In 1981 he took up lawn bowls, and reached the semi-finals in the sport at the 1983 Stoke Mandeville Games.
The first Paralympic gold medallist in lawn bowls from Queensland, he was undefeated in national disabled competitions from 1982 to 1991, winning nine national singles titles, and excelled in able-bodied lawn bowls competitions.
In 2000 at the age of 80, Fowler participated in the Paralympic torch relay.