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About Oliver

Entrepreneur & Founder of Myprotein

Oliver Cookson is an award-winning British entrepreneur who founded the sports nutrition business Myprotein and went on to become a self-made multi-centimillionaire.

Growing up in a working-class area of Manchester, Oliver left school aged 16 with one GCSE. Even then, he felt destined for success and set himself the goal of becoming a millionaire by 30, which he achieved with five years to spare.

He is perhaps best known for his bootstrapped business Myprotein, which he launched with a £500 overdraft and scaled into the number one sports nutrition brand in Europe. At the point of sale, it was a hugely sought-after business with profits of over £6m (EBITDA). He also won a plethora of leading awards along the way and all this whilst maintaining 100% equity without any debt.

Today Myprotein is the number one sports nutrition brand globally. The vision Oliver had throughout the later years of growing the business.

Following a high-profile sale to The Hut Group in 2011, he went on to be named the UK’s number one self-made millionaire under 40, with a net worth of £306m* and in 2020 he sold the majority of shares in the hugely successful The Hut Group IPO.

Oliver Cookson is a charismatic and engaging entrepreneur, leader and speaker who is a well-respected figure in the business and fitness sectors. He is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs and launched a podcast called Bootstrap Your Life to share his knowledge, experience and expertise.

Over the years, Oliver has become more interested in personal and spiritual growth, and he is now looking at how he can continue to make a positive impact in the world by planning a charitable legacy.

Oliver is a patron of children’s charity Make-a-Wish (UK), a not-for-profit set up to make the dreams of critically ill children come true. He is also a major donor to the Caudwell Children’s charity, which transforms the lives of disabled children across the UK.

*Sunday Times Rich List 2019

The Journey

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1979

Born in Withington, Manchester, UK.

1995

Left school at age 16 with just one GCSE

1996

Employed on a Modern Apprenticeship in Software Development

1999

After self-learning, Oliver moves into full-time Contract Web Development

2003

Oliver had the conceptual idea of Myprotein

2004

Myprotein launches. Oliver developed the website single handedly and from scratch in his spare time

2005

Myprotein begins trading in Europe

2007

Myprotein achieves £1m EBITDA, still fully bootstrapped

2008

Myprotein included in 'The Sunday Times Fast Track 100'

2009

Myprotein launches dedicated local websites for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Ireland

2010

Oliver is named 'EY Entrepreneur of the Year'

2011

Myprotein becomes Europe’s No.1 online sports nutrition brand

2011

Oliver sells Myprotein for £58 million in a combined cash and shares deal, exiting with 100% equity. He remains a major shareholder in The Hut Group (THG)

2011

Joins THG as CEO of the LifeStyle Division and as Non Executive Director

2020

The Hut Group (THG) IPO's for £6bn. Oliver sells 85% of his stake in THG for £286m at IPO making him the second-largest IPO benefactor after KKR

2021

Oliver becomes a patron for Make-a-Wish

2022

Oliver announces the forthcoming launch of "The Oliver Cookson Foundation"

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