LOS ANGELES -- Richard "Dick" Baker, the former wave rider who reinvented Southern California's iconic Ocean Pacific surf brand in the 1990s and in doing so helped spread surfing fashion styles around the world, has died of colon cancer, his family confirmed Thursday. He was 62.

Baker, former chief executive officer of OP and president emeritus of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, died Tuesday, his wife, Una, told The Associated Press.

A Southern California native who grew up surfing, Baker put the sport aside after college, eventually moving to New York to work in the fashion industry. But after decades helping run such labels as Tommy Hilfiger and Izod Ltd., he returned to Southern California in the late 1990s as part of a partnership that acquired Ocean Pacific.

"It was a lifestyle change that brought him back to California," Una Baker said by phone from her home near the beach in San Clemente. "He grew up with OP, and he just had this dream that he could turn it around and at the same time really enjoy the whole lifestyle that was surrounded by surfing."

Although he didn't return to the water himself, his wife said, he did revive the company, restoring its stature as one of the pre-eminent surf clothing brands. OP's revenue increased fivefold during his tenure as CEO. After the company was sold in 2004 he stayed on, first as president and later as a consultant, until 2007.

As he revived the company, Baker became known throughout surfing circles as the non-surfer who embraced the sport's laid-back lifestyle and became friends with its participants through such charitable organizations as the Surfrider Foundation and Ocean Institute.

"Dick Baker was a larger-than-life individual who advised and mentored every CEO in the surf industry, while making certain Wall Street knew about the beach," Bob Mignogna, former publisher of Surfing magazine, said in a tribute posted on SIMA's Web site.

Born in Los Angeles on Sept. 3, 1946, Baker began working in the fashion industry when he took a job at a men's clothing store while a student at California State University, Northridge. He rose through the industry's ranks, working as a buyer and eventually becoming president and CEO of Izod's menswear division, president of Tommy Hilfiger's women's division and president of Esprit Womenswear.

In addition to his wife, Baker is survived by sons Ryan and Jack; his father, Donald; and a sister, Donna.

SIMA is to honor him with a lifetime achievement award in August.