Sharon Bowles was born on 12 June 1953 in Oxford, United Kingdom. She studied chemical physics and mathematics at the University of Reading and graduated in 1974. She also holds a patent agent course and in 1981 she started to work as a patent attorney. She joined the Liberal Democrats and she started her political career in 1992 when she was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Aylesbury constituency. In 2004 she became member of the bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE).
In 2005 Sharon Bowles was elected member of the European Parliament for South East England and remained an MEP until 2014. During that period she was member of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, member of the Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society and member of the Conference of Committee Chairs.
In 2015 Bowles became a non-executive director of The London Stock Exchange Group PLC and of its subsidiary The London Stock Exchange plc.