Owen Rees holds a PhD in Ancient History from the Manchester Metropolitan University (2018). His specific research interest lies in the transition of soldiers from civilian life to the battlefield and back again. He also studies the treatment of the ancient Greek war dead.

Owen works as both a lecturer and as a freelance writer, regularly contributing to publications specializing in ancient history. He originally created #badancient as a way collect examples of ancient history being misused, or appropriated, in the modern day as a way of showing his students the importance of ancient history in everyday life. He has published two books on the topic of ancient Greek warfare: Great Battles of the Classical Greek World, and Great Naval Battles of the Ancient Greek World.