Wynne, Owen (1665–1737), soldier and politician, was third son of Col. Owen Wynne of Lurganboy, Co. Leitrim, and his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir John Hamilton, 2nd Baron Strabane and earl of Abercorn. Wynne entered TCD on 10 May 1682, graduating BA in 1686. Joining the army, in March 1689 he was a captain in the earl of Roscommon's regiment of foot, and later fought at the battle of the Boyne. He served as MP for Carrick in 1692–3. In April 1694 he left Ireland for Flanders in the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons, commanded by his elder brother Col. James Wynne (d. 1695). On 1 November he was commissioned as a major in the regiment, but around this time was taken prisoner by the French at Calais, being freed (December) in an exchange of prisoners. He returned to the Continent and rejoined the regiment, now commanded by Col. Charles Ross after James Wynne's death, and was commissioned as a lieutenant-colonel on 20 July 1695. He remained on the Continent until the peace of Ryswick in September 1697. His commission was renewed in July 1702, with Wynne becoming second in command.
Appointed a brevet colonel of dragoons (1 January 1703), during the war of the Spanish succession he commanded the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons, serving under John Churchill (qv), duke of Marlborough, and fighting at Blenheim on 13 August 1704. On 25 March 1705 Wynne became colonel of the newly raised 23rd Regiment of Foot; but in January 1706 it was decided that the regiment should, along with a number of others, be disbanded and reconstituted from scratch. Wynne relinquished this command on being appointed brigadier-general on 1 June 1706, and at some point he served as governor of Lille under Marlborough. After promotion to major-general (1 January 1709), his military career seemed to stall, much to his chagrin; in 1712 he was petitioning for promotion on the grounds of hardship. In 1713–14 he sat as MP for Ballyshannon, being noted for his opposition to the government. He was returned again for the parliament of George I (1715–27), and became colonel of the 9th Lancers on 22 July 1715. On 4 March 1717 he received a pension of £365 a year on the Irish establishment as a brigadier, and in 1717 received an LLD from TCD. He voted in favour of the establishment of a national bank in 1721, and was made ‘a member’ of King's Inns in Trinity term 1721, though the significance of this is unclear. Wynne made money somehow; he spent £15,000 on land in Cavan in 1720, and bought Sligo estates, which also included a portion of Sligo town, for £20,000 in 1722. He moved to the county and built a seat, Hazelwood, an impressive edifice designed by Richard Cassels (qv). In 1722 he became a burgess of Sligo along with his younger brother Capt. John Wynne (c. 1690–1747), MP for Castlebar (1727–47), and his brother-in-law Col. John Folliott (1691–1762), MP for Longford borough (1721–7), Granard (1727–60), and Sligo borough (1761–2), effectively acquiring control of Sligo corporation and securing the basis of what would become the family interest in the county.
In time, Wynne came to be regarded as one of the most prominent figures in Co. Sligo. In 1724 he was involved in attempts to block legislative loopholes relating to the naturalisation of foreign protestants, to prevent potential exploitation by the children of Jacobites abroad. In 1725 he became high sheriff of Mayo, and was briefly appointed governor of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. He was appointed to the privy council for the first time on 10 August 1726. Returned as MP for Co. Sligo in 1727, he held the seat until his death and served on numerous committees. He was reappointed to the privy council in July and November. Promoted to lieutenant-general on 1 March 1727, he became a colonel of horse in the 4th Royal Dragoons on 13 September 1727. In 1729 he investigated possible Jacobite activity and recruiting in Sligo, but nothing came to light. Wynne was also consulted on numerous occasions on security issues relating to dissenters; his adherence to the established church was evident. Colonel of the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons from 6 August 1732, that year he was also appointed lieutenant-general of the forces in Ireland. He served on the privy council again (1733–6) and as colonel of a regiment of dragoons (1734–6). In 1735 he became high sheriff of Sligo and commissioner of the tillage act in Connacht, and in 1735–6 was governor of Londonderry and Culmore fort. He served as governor of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, again from 1736 on. At an unspecified point in his career, he apparently refused a title. He died on 28 February 1737.
Wynne married the second daughter of Robert Miller of Milford, Co. Mayo, but the couple had no children. The estates were left to his nephew, Owen Wynne. There is at least one portrait of Wynne, by James Latham (qv); in private ownership, it is reproduced in W. A. Maguire, Kings in conflict.