Education
Knowles was educated at Burwood Primary School and Ashfield Boys High School and became a small business operator.
Knowles was educated at Burwood Primary School and Ashfield Boys High School and became a small business operator.
He was elected as an alderman of Liverpool City Council from 1976 until 1982 and was deputy mayor from 1980 to 1982. Knowles was elected as the Australian Labor Party member for Ingleburn in 1981 and re-elected until Ingleburn"s abolition in 1988, when he was elected as the member for Macquarie Fields.