Raymond A. Rich was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1912, the son of Arthur and Lucy Baker Rich. He was raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and started his career by hiring on to a tramp freighter for a job in the engine room at age 18. After receiving a double engineering degree from Iowa State University, he was hired in the midst of the Great Depression by General Electric Co. and became its youngest national sales manager at that time. He was awarded the rare "E Award" for overseeing GE's multiple war production plant facilities.

Mr. Rich then was asked to lead the federal Northeast District for the Council for Economic Development. He volunteered for active duty in World War II in the Navy and Marines, serving in the South Pacific Islands and in Tokyo after the Japanese surrender. He received numerous decorations for his distinguished service. After the war, Mr. Rich became vice president and director of Philco Corp. and then accepted the presidency and directorship of Avco Corp. From there his career escalated, and he went on to hold multiple, simultaneous CEO and chairman positions in numerous companies. The sectors ranged from oil and gas exploration and production, publishing, glass containers, and banking to environmental engineering and production facilities. He led U.S. Filter Corp. as chairman and CEO to a significant role in its field, increasing revenues twenty-fold in the 1970s.

Upon retiring from active corporate life, Mr. Rich focused on acquiring various real estate properties. In addition to his primary residence in Boca Grande, Florida, and his estate in Esopus, he owned at various times in his life cattle ranches in Arizona and Oklahoma, corn and soybean farms in Iowa, townhouses in New York City, homes in Maine, a castle in the Scottish Highlands, a 12th-century castle in Austria, and a chateau in France. Mr. Rich was a member of the University Club for more than 60 years and the Union Club, both in New York City, as well as the Boca Grande Club and Gasparilla Inn Club of Florida.