Richard "Dick" Baker (September 3, 1946 – April 14, 2009) was an American businessman and surf apparel executive for Ocean Pacific. Baker helped to shape the surf apparel industry as president and chief executive of Ocean Pacific, also known as OP.
Baker was born on September 3, 1946 in Los Angeles. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley and earned his bachelor's degree from California State University, Northridge.
Baker first entered the apparel industry as a college student. He became a buyer at a men's specialty store to pay for school. He later became a buyer for the now defunct Bullock's department store.
Baker became head of the Marithé François Girbaud's U.S. division, based in New York City, in 1980. He gradually moved on to head other clothing brands. In 1983, Baker became the president and chief executive of Izod Ltd.'s menswear division. He became president of Esprit Sport in 1986 before later moving on to become the head of Tommy Hilfiger's women's clothing division.
In 1998, Baker and his partners at the Doyle & Boissiere investment group, which is based in Burlingame, California, acquired the Ocean Pacific heritage surf brand. Ocean Pacific was in financial trouble at the time as consumer preferences had changed over the years.
Baker became the chief executive of Ocean Pacific following the 1998 acquisition. He was able to successfully revive the flagging label. Under his helm, Baker led Ocean Pacific through two sales. The first was to Warnaco Group in 2004, which acquired Ocean Pacific for $40 million. The second sale, in 2006, was to Iconix Brand Group, a surf wear maker, for an estimated $54 million.