Bowman was born in District Heights, Maryland on May 28, 1988. He started sports at a young age and was a member of District Heights boys and girls club, where he played both basketball and football and was invited to many All-star Events. Bowman was a standout player at Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland. He missed most of his senior season with a shoulder injury, but he had a very impressive junior campaign in which he recorded 165 tackles, 9 sacks, and 3 fumble recoveries as a linebacker and ran for 1,200 yards and 22 touchdowns as a running back. He was named the Maryland Defensive Player-of-the-Year, first-team All-State, Washington Post first-team All-Met and first-team All-Conference. He was recruited to Penn State by Larry Johnson, Sr.

After redshirting the 2006 season, Bowman played in nine games in 2007. He missed two games due to a sprained ankle suffered in a game against Illinois. He recorded 16 tackles, with a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a blocked kick, and a pass breakup that season.

Bowman saw increased playing time in 2008, largely due to the graduation of All-American linebacker Dan Connor and injury to presumptive starter Sean Lee. Despite the attrition, however, Bowman kept the Nittany Lions ranked in the top ten among three primary defensive categories. Individually, Bowman led the Nittany Lions in total tackles (106), solos (61), and assisted tackles (45), was second in tackles for loss (16.5) and tied for third in sacks (4.0). He also forced two fumbles, recovered a fumble, grabbed an interception and had five pass breakups.

He finished the season with a heavy heart and an outstanding performance. Bowman played against Southern California in the 2009 Rose Bowl one day after his high school coach, Nick Lynch, was killed in an automobile accident in Maryland. Bowman responded by breaking the school’s bowl record with five tackles for loss (minus-21 yards), and tying the Rose Bowl record set by Ohio State’s Andy Katzenmoyer in the 1997 game. He also recorded his fourth sack of the season among his eight tackles (seven solo) against the Trojans. For his superb efforts against USC, Bowman was selected to ESPN.com’s 2008-09 All-Bowl team, one of two Big Ten players named to the squad.

On January 4, 2010, Bowman’s mother announced his decision to forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.

On the second day of the 2010 NFL Draft, Bowman was selected in the third round with the 91st overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers. Bowman played in all 16 games in 2010, starting one in place of Patrick Willis, who was ruled out for Week 17 after undergoing a second surgery on his broken right hand. Bowman finished his rookie year with 46 tackles.

For the third time, Bowman earned First-Team All-Pro honors and was fifth in the league in tackles with 145. On December 23, 2013, live on Monday Night Football, Bowman scored the last touchdown ever at Candlestick Park, intercepting a Matt Ryan pass and returning it 89 yards for a touchdown, sending the 49ers to the playoffs for the third consecutive season. For the 2013 season, Bowman made 16 starts with 145 tackles, five sacks, two interceptions, nine passes defended, six forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

On the play which he suffered his season-ending injury, Bowman stripped Seahawks’ wide receiver Jermaine Kearse of the ball near the goal line, and appeared to take over possession. However, the officials ruled the ball to be in possession of the Seahawks. Under the instant replay conditions at the time, the officials were not permitted to take a second look. On March 26, 2014, team owners approved a change that would allow the referees to review the recovery of a loose ball. A similar proposal to allow coaches to question any recovery using one of their challenges was voted down.

In 2015, Bowman returned from his knee injury that had kept him out for the previous season. There was significant concern about his health going into 2015, but he started all 16 games for the 49ers. He finished the season with a career-high and league-leading 154 tackles, making his third Pro Bowl appearance and his fourth First-Team All-Pro appearance. He also accounted for 2.5 sacks and two passes defensed. He was ranked 61st on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

In Week 5 of the 2017 season, Bowman was benched for a few series, and later voiced his displeasure with the decision from the 23–26 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts. On October 13, 2017, Bowman was released from the 49ers at his request after the team was unable to trade him.

On October 16, 2017, Bowman signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Oakland Raiders. During Week 12 against the Denver Broncos, Bowman intercepted a pass from quarterback Paxton Lynch in the end zone, giving the Raiders their first interception of the year after not having one in their first 11 weeks under defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. The Raiders eventually won the game by a score of 21-14.

On June 4, 2019, Bowman announced his retirement from the NFL and retired symbolically with the 49ers.