 Bahen was born at Kiama Hospital, in Wembley, Western Australia, on 17 February 1929, to Clem and Eva (née Beard) Bahen, and grew up in Claremont.His father played 158 games for the Subiaco Football Club, and was later a noted businessman as managing director of C. M. Bahen, Ltd. Bahen attended Aquinas College, and played nine reserves games for South Fremantle in 1949 before moving to Melbourne for his job.There, he began playing with the Mentone Football Club in the Federal Football League, before being recruited by the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), with which he played eight games in the 1951 season before returning to Western Australia, where he began playing in South Fremantle's senior team.