1979
Born in Manchester, UK
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
