Bowler was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, and studied Swedish and Scandinavian studies at the University of East Anglia, undertaking a variety of jobs before becoming a full-time writer in 1994.

His first published novel was Midget (1994), a psychological thriller set in Leigh-on-Sea. This has been followed by several other novels: Dragon's Rock (1995), a thriller set in Devon; River Boy (1997), a story about love and bereavement and winner of the Carnegie Medal; Shadows (1999), a gritty love story; Storm Catchers (2001), a kidnap thriller; Starseeker (2002), a mystical exploration of love, loss and music, also made into a play; Apocalypse (2004), an allegory about the future of mankind; Frozen Fire (2006), a philosophical thriller about the nature of reality and Bloodchild (2008), a story about memory, secrets and betrayal.

His most recent work is Blade, an eight-book, urban thriller series. Reviewing Blade for The Bookbag, Jill Murphy has written, "Nobody in children's writing is producing anything like this. It's electrifying." In some countries (e.g. USA and Korea) the Blade series is being published in four books, each book consisting of two of the UK titles.

Tim Bowler also speaks at conferences, schools, book festivals and makes regular appearances on radio. He lives in a village in Devon and writes in a small stone outhouse.