He studied law in Athens University and continued his studies in Germany, France and England, before returning to his native Patras. He was elected deputy for Achaea in 1902 and distinguished himself as an orator and a member of the so-called "Japanese Group" that opposed the Georgios Theotokis government in 1906 - 1908. Gounaris himself, however, joined the government in 1908 as Finance Minister, hoping to implement a reformist program, thereby causing the dissolution of the group, although he was soon forced to resign. Despite his progressive views (he was an admirer of the Bismarckian German social laws), his conservative political thinking turned him into a leading opponent of Eleftherios Venizelos. He was appointed Prime Minister after Venizelos' first resignation in 1915 by King Constantine I. For his anti-Venizelist role he was exiled with other prominent anti-Venizelists to Corsica in 1917 after Venizelos' return to power in Athens. He managed to escape to Italy in 1918, but was able to return to Greece only in 1920, as to partake in the crucial November elections as the de facto leader of the "United Opposition", amidst the ongoing Asia Minor Campaign.