The Aberdeen-based businessman and philanthropist Sir Ian Wood has died aged 84, his family has announced.

Sir Ian was one of the UK oil and gas industry’s most respected leaders, who turned his family’s fishing boat repair yard into a global engineering player in the North Sea and internationally.

He retired as chief executive in 2006 and a year later began concentrating on his charitable work, creating The Wood Foundation, which works on social and economic inequality, especially in Scotland and sub-Saharan Africa

His family said he died peacefully at home and they would remember his “kindness, generosity, determination and unwavering commitment to his family.”

Sir Ian was one of Scotland’s wealthiest people, with a personal worth estimated at £1.8bn.

Wood Group started as a family fishing business before Sir Ian took over in 1967.

Over the next decades, he formed a separate engineering company servicing the rapidly-growing North Sea oil business.

At its height, the Wood Group was valued at more than £5bn, carrying out work in the energy industry around the world. It went public in 2002 and was sold to a Dubai company last year.

Sir Ian, who retired as chairman of the group in 2012, was knighted in 1994 for services to the oil and gas industry and was later made a member of the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry.

Sir Ian’s philanthropic work was carried out through the Wood Foundation, which he founded in 2007.

It is involved in a number of investments and charitable work around agriculture and conservation in east Africa, as well as projects in Scotland.

He was married to Helen for 55 years, was father to Nic, Graham and Garreth, and a grandfather of seven children.

The statement from Sir Ian’s family said: “Sir Ian was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend.

“While many knew him as an entrepreneur, philanthropist and one of Scotland’s most influential business leaders, those closest to him will remember above all his kindness, generosity, determination and unwavering commitment to his family.”

First Minister John Swinney paid tribute to Sir Ian, describing him as one of Scotland’s “most influential business leaders and philanthropists, a figure whose vision, determination and generosity have left a lasting mark on the nation and far beyond.”

He said: “Through his leadership of Wood Group, he helped transform a modest family business into a global energy services company, playing a pivotal role in the growth of the North Sea oil and gas industry and establishing Scotland as a world-renowned centre of energy expertise.

He paid tribute to Sir Ian’s “devotion” to his home city of Aberdeen, adding the businessman had championed “initiatives that have strengthened the North East of Scotland and supported the evolution of the region’s economy through his tireless advocacy for economic development, innovation and opportunity.”

Swinney also praised his work on the transition to a lower-carbon future, and his philanthropic work.

“Sir Ian Wood’s legacy is one of enterprise, leadership and generosity. He has helped shape modern Scotland, strengthened its economy, advanced its energy industry and demonstrated the profound difference that purposeful philanthropy can make,” he said.

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander described Sir Ian as “one of Scotland’s finest sons”.

“Ian was a giant of Scottish business, philanthropy and society. A proud son of Aberdeen, he was a tireless advocate for the Granite City and its people,” he said.

“Personally, it was a privilege to be able to know him, work with him on his philanthropic endeavours, and like so many Scots, I mourn his passing.

“My thoughts today are with Lady Helen, Nicholas, Graham, Garreth and the whole family for whom his loss will be most keenly felt.”

Scottish Conservative MP for Aberdeen South, Douglas Lumsden, said:

“Scotland has lost a true guiding light of its business community. Sir Ian was a champion of everything North East, both as a paragon of its economy but also as a philanthropist who did so much good at home and abroad.

“He and his workers around the world forged an international reputation for excellence in energy.

“The Wood name also meant a helping hand to communities, wherever it went.”

Sir Ian was born in Aberdeen in 1942, the middle child of John and Margaret Wood.

He was educated at Robert Gordon’s College, later graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a first-class honours degree in psychology in 1964.

He played rugby with the North & Midlands District XV, including in a match against the All Blacks at Pittodrie Stadium in 1972.

Following graduation, Sir Ian joined the family fishing and marine engineering business, becoming managing director of John Wood and Son.

He continued as Chairman of the legacy business, the Don Fishing Company Ltd, until his death.

He remained interested in the oil and gas business after standing down from the Wood Group, and in 2014 intervened in the Scottish referendum debate, questioning some of the assumptions being made about oil and gas revenues.

Sir Ian supported the move to transitioning from oil and gas to renewables energy but also warned that the UK had to keep drilling for new oil in the North Sea.