He continued working right up to his death from pancreatic cancer in Westminster, London, on 12 July 1999, coincidentally, the birthday of co-star Kathy Staff, who played his love interest Nora Batty on "Last of the Summer Wine". Owen is buried in the churchyard of St John's Parish Church, Upperthong, near his beloved town of Holmfirth in Yorkshire, the home of "Last of the Summer Wine". His co-star Peter Sallis was buried next to him after his death aged 96 in June 2017.