Ewen was brought up on a small holding near Milton of Campsie. He started work as an apprentice gardener in Glasgow’s Parks Department in 1970. He worked mainly in Bellahouston Park, Rosshall Park and the Botanic Gardens at this time. On completion of his apprenticeship, he continued working at the Botanic Gardens before moving to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1975 which eventually led to the advanced Diploma in Horticulture Edinburgh (DHE).
He arrived back in Glasgow Botanic Gardens in 1978 as an assistant manager, then manager from 1981 and senior manager from 1992. Ewen is currently managing a team of around 35 in the Botanic Gardens and another team of 30 based at Queens Park Glasshouses on the south side. His
interests are gardening, hill walking, reading, guitar, finding a new home to stay in after retiring!