They climbed to fifth in the table to overtake Liverpool, who could reclaim that position if they win Sunday's Merseyside derby with Everton.
It was Wanderers' seventh 1-0 result since the start of the year when they embarked on a run that has seen them lose only one of their last ten Premiership games.
With El Hadji Diouf serving the first of his three-match suspension, Wanderers took the chance to push Jamaican international Ricardo Gardner into the attack from his more usual left-back spot, while Norwich kept the same side beaten by Chelsea.
Wanderers had the better of the first half but had little to show for it early on and it was left to the midfield duo of Gay Speed and Fernando Hierro to show the strikers the way to goal.
First the Spaniard fired narrowly wide before Speed looked as if he had opened his scoring account for the season, only to see his on-target thunderbolt blocked by Jason Shackell.
Norwich, however, also had their moments and were guilty of two spectacular misses - Damien Francis fired wide with the goal at his mercy before Leon McKenzie managed to beat keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, only to see the ball cleared by Tal Ben Haim.
Wanderers felt they had a good penalty shout when Kevin Davies was knocked over in the area, but referee Philip Walton waved away the home side's protests.
In the end Wanderers made the breakthrough in the 42nd minute. Stelios Giannakopoulos took the ball after his corner had been beaten away and fired in a measured shot just inside the far post.
Hierro then almost made it two immediately afterwards, his shot beating Robert Green but hitting the bar and rebounding to safety.
Norwich saw a lot more of the ball in the second half but they also found it hard to get past Wanderers' defensive stronghold of Ben Haim and Bruno N'Gotty.
Yet they needed the brilliance of Green to keep the home side at bay again when he dived full length to keep out a stinging shot from Hierro.
Bolton saw out the game, even though Norwich threw everyone into attack, and the home side finished the game comfortably as they consigned the East Anglians to their fourth successive defeat.
Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce felt the match was won in the first half. He said: "Norwich were very resilient and it took a little bit of brilliance from Stelios to beat them.
"I know that Norwich have been better in the second half than the first all this season, so we knew it was going to be tough but we managed to keep that all important clean sheet."
Norwich chief Nigel Worthington was bitterly disappointed but proud of his players.
"I think we created four good chances," said Worthington. "But Bolton took their half-chance, and really, that's what the Premiership is all about.
"If my lads continue to play football like that though, we won't go far wrong. I thought they gave everything tonight."
Man of the Match: Stelios Giannakopoulos
The Greece international worked tirelessly and was head and shoulders above the rest of the midfielders on show. He deserved to score the vital goal - his fifth of the season.