I used a £500 overdraft to start my business – now it’s worth £350m & I’m the UK’s top self-made millionaire under 40

HE STARTED his business with a £500 overdraft.

But now Oliver Cookson's empire is worth a cool £350million, and was recently featured on the Sunday Times Rich List - and named the number one self-made millionaire under 40.

After leaving school at 16, Oliver did an apprenticeship in computer programming before taking a trip to Australia - where he fell in love with fitness.

Thanks to this passion, he started exploring the world of supplements and protein powder - which sparked the thought that he should try making some himself.

And that's when Myprotein was born.

He was denied a start-up loan by the bank, so decided to step into his overdraft in a bid to get the business going.

"The £500 overdraft was the only money I had, my parents were a working-class family," he told the

"There was nowhere for me to go."

Oliver launched his first powder on his website, which he built himself, in 2004, and it was an instant sellout.

Despite the fact that he was still working full time as a website developer, Oliver dedicated as much of his time as possible to Myprotein until it became too big to run as it was.

So he decided to buy a warehouse in Cheadle Heath to run the business from.

"After three years, one of the moments I realised I'd made it was when I wrote myself a cheque for one million pounds," he told the Manchester Evening News.

"I didn't have any loans or debt, it was just me.

"I'm very proud of it to be honest!"

Things have just become even more successful for Oliver since then.

Myprotein was named the number one online sports nutrition company in Europe.

And in 2011, he made the decision to sell his company to The Hut Group for a hefty £350 million.

Thanks to that sale, he was named the UK's top self-made millionaire under 40 in 2019, and also featured on the Sunday Times' prestigious Rich List.

He's now hoping his latest product - Verve, which aims to meet an individual's daily nutritional needs in one go - is just as successful.