Growth and learning are two words that crop up again and again when talking to Raymond Plank or reading his new memoir, A Small Difference. These traits led to a remarkable career spanning more than 50 years.

Now living outside Sheridan, Wyo., Plank remains a voracious reader and apt student of current affairs. Born in 1922 and raised in Minneapolis, he was a bomber pilot in the Pacific in World War II before returning to the U.S. Three of the B-24s he piloted barely made it back and never flew again.

Exiting Yale in 1946 with a major in international relations, Plank formed a small bookkeeping, tax and accounting firm in Minneapolis. It was transformed when it starting managing oil and gas investment partnerships at the request of clients.

He and two friends, Truman Anderson and Chuck Arnao, formed Apache Corp. in 1954 with $250,000. In 1956, Apache offered its first oil and gas investment program and was an industry leader in that arena until it dropped annual drilling program sales in 1986.

Apache went public in May 1969. Plank built it beyond his wildest dreams, with a series of savvy acquisitions and drilling throughout the U.S. and, today, in six countries, including in Argentina’s shale. The company made a splash with some of the biggest acquisitions from the majors in the 1990s, obtaining a superior position in Australia, Canada and Egypt.

Its market cap reached $50 billion by 2008, his last full year as chairman. He retired in January 2009. Along the way Apache was an innovator: the first to create a master limited partnership in the mid-1980s, and the first to leave the space when oil and gas prices collapsed and tax laws changed.

Plank has received much recognition through the years and has served on numerous civic, charitable and industry boards. He was honored as CEO of the Year three times by the Wall Street Transcript, and was named one of Hart Energy’s 100 Most Influential People of the Petroleum Century, a special report published in 2000.

Plank is a man of varied interests, from flying his own plane, to fishing and hunting, history, politics, the arts and, especially, education. In 1981, he created the Ucross Foundation on a 20,000-acre working ranch in northeast Wyoming: a group of old ranch buildings he restored became the site of a conference center and artist-in-residence program. Five Pulitzer Prizes, several Tony Awards and some National Book Awards have been won by the artists who have stayed there.

He has been called irascible, frank, a force of nature. He is always interesting. But service to others has been a cornerstone of his life, following the advice he received at age 10 from his father to make “a very small difference on behalf of others.”

The diary he has kept from the age of six forms the basis of his new memoir. It details his childhood, war service, education, and how he grew Apache through times of diversification into real estate and other industries, but then, always back to oil and gas. He talks about the deals, the politics of management transitions, the pros and cons of acquire-and-exploit versus drilling big discoveries.

His dreams for growth, corporate and personal, always led to hands-on philanthropy. Among the many charitable causes he has created are those focused on building 203 one-room schools to educate young girls throughout Egypt, and the endowed Fund for Teachers, which has supported more than 5,000 U.S. teachers — so far — with stipends and sabbaticals.

“It’s not about what we get; it’s about how we get it and how we use it,” he writes. “It isn’t what we inherit or pursue; it’s about whether and how we elect to grow.”

Investor Your life appears to have been quite an adventure, from business to politics to charitable endeavors.

Plank It’s been a superior life and it’s continuing. Lifetime learning is so important. If I weren’t learning I wouldn’t be around, because it’s my mind that allows me to still get around. I’ve probably read 1,000 books so far this year. I think I must read 20 books a week.

Investor Now that you can judge it from afar, what is your opinion of the state of the oil industry right now?

Plank I follow it very closely. I think we need to recognize the industry’s ability to contribute to our quality of life. The industry is in a revolutionary period right now. The technologies that have been around for decades have now been synthesized in such a way that we have the capacity to be energy independent. At the same time, we have the responsibility, the opportunity to do that and be environmentally sensitive, and that goes with any and all forms of resource extraction.

Investor What was your very first job?

Plank When I was really young, I sold eggs from our family farm. Later on, another kid and I dug a ditch from a guy’s service station, when we were about 14, I think. He used a hose to move oil, and water that had been used for washing cars, down the ditch, and it defiled the environment. Today, I think people recognize increasingly that they have a responsibility to the environment, and that that is part of the higher cost structure of doing business…and we have to be able to do it at a price of $50 or $70 a barrel.

Investor What advice would you give someone building an E&P company?

Plank My suggestion is colored by my experience, but at the outset you have to understand the importance of having a plan. I had done a lot of planning before I started. You front-end load your ambition with your considerations and what you hope to accomplish, otherwise you’re like a milk-bottle top bumping along the banks of a creek.

But the plan is not worth much if you can’t make decisions, and you have to be able to adapt, like Eisenhower did in World War II. Adaptability to changing circumstances is very important. It’s kind of like when you have your first kid—you’ve got to learn how to be a parent.

Get your thoughts in order on the culture you have in mind and live by that. Now, you are in the midst of a revolution, so how do you intend to approach that?...

Investor Apache grew by drilling and acquisitions.

Plank Discovery is something that strongly motivates me, as you could find something in the ground of great value. Every time you made a discovery you took another step forward.

Investor You always have strong opinions on energy policy and politics.

Plank We don’t have an energy policy and we are not going to get one. But you cannot forego use of energy to create wealth and jobs. It would be terribly important to decide if you are up to dealing with a government that’s pretty hostile to us. It would be better if the use of the Earth’s bounty is welcomed and less of a hostile thought. The industry is a whipping boy.

I’m trying to influence this at least somewhat, to see the political mess out there come together so we can deal with the horrible problem of the deficit, creating jobs. Your time horizons in industry are different and decisions are made in an environment now, but you can only guess what the environment will be at the time you begin to get your payoff.

This administration has a fundamental hostility toward corporate America. You’ve got lots of people in business standing around with money, but they don’t have confidence right now, and if policies were (more business friendly)…to have your largest industry in the world held hostage like this, when you could see a whole country moving ahead in harmony and you’d be able to concentrate on other priorities.

Investor Do you think we can achieve energy independence? Do you approve of exporting LNG (liquefied natural gas)?

Plank The answer is yes and yes. I do believe the reserves are there, we’ve got 100-year reserves. I believe those reserves are technologically proven to exist, and also in other places in the world. It shouldn’t be held hostage by those seeking their own moment in the sun…

We can contribute a great deal more and the country would do better. Very high oil prices are the enemy of a robust economy, but they don’t have to be. The devil’s in the details, for the role of the presidency and the congress (toward energy). The opportunity in energy is so great…but you can’t have compromise. What do you want to do, compromise technology, integrity, reality? You need to bring this issue into the category of education, and a spirit of collaboration.