What do you think?
Rate this book
Michael O'Leary
Michael O'Leary is a business giant. He transformed Ryanair from a loss-making joke of an Irish carrier into one of the most valuable airlines in the world, and in the process he has revolutionized the very nature of commercial aviation. In this, the first biography of O'Leary, Alan Ruddock portrays the man in three dimensions and examines the business miracle - often talked about but poorly understood - that O'Leary has wrought.
'Ruddock's fast-paced retelling of Ryanair's rise and rise confirms O'Leary's insistence that his success has little to do with the management maxims of business gurus and everything to do with graft and ruthless attention to detail' Observer
'Probably the definitive Ryanair story ... a good read' Sunday Independent
'The fullest and most accurate picture of O'Leary to date' Irish Daily Mail
'Unlike previous books which simply chart the growth of the airline, this one is bound to get under O'Leary's skin because it reveals a great deal about his hugely driven character' Irish Independent
'Ruddock is good on the flavour of the man, a bundle of energy whose two favourite words start with an F and an S (they aren't flower and sugar)' Irish Examiner
'Ruddock's fast-paced retelling of Ryanair's rise and rise confirms O'Leary's insistence that his success has little to do with the management maxims of business gurus and everything to do with graft and ruthless attention to detail' Observer
'Probably the definitive Ryanair story ... a good read' Sunday Independent
'The fullest and most accurate picture of O'Leary to date' Irish Daily Mail
'Unlike previous books which simply chart the growth of the airline, this one is bound to get under O'Leary's skin because it reveals a great deal about his hugely driven character' Irish Independent
'Ruddock is good on the flavour of the man, a bundle of energy whose two favourite words start with an F and an S (they aren't flower and sugar)' Irish Examiner
Paperback
First published July 27, 2007
13 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 21, 2019
A well researched and well written account of O’Leary’s transformation of Ryanair from basket case to behemoth.
It shows how a hungry, opportunistic and ruthless individual will rise to the top in any circumstances. If O’Leary had applied for a job at Ryanair he would have been rejected. But by offering to work for Ryan for free he got his foot in the door, and once it was in, nothing would stand in his way.
Interesting read.
It shows how a hungry, opportunistic and ruthless individual will rise to the top in any circumstances. If O’Leary had applied for a job at Ryanair he would have been rejected. But by offering to work for Ryan for free he got his foot in the door, and once it was in, nothing would stand in his way.
Interesting read.
September 6, 2017
No matter how you may feel about the airline's policies and way of doing business, he has done a remarkable job turning this unknown leasing company into a market leader and helped make air travel accessible to the average person.
February 16, 2020
Interesting to know how Ryanair started and how a small failing company ended up being leader in Europe.
November 15, 2021
O’Leary is portrayed as a peak capitalist, brutal yet effective
July 20, 2008
i was browsing the shelves at a bookstore in ireland, looking to pick up some literature that was more manageable than joyce's Odyssey. ran across this book, about michael o'leary, the irish fellow who took ryanair from a small, regional money-losing airline to what, in 2011, will be the biggest in europe. even since reading richard branson's losing my virginity, i've found the airline biz fascinating. so that was a hook... these two o'leary quotes on the book jacket sold me:
"there's no point in having some long-term plan because a long-term plan gets knocked on its ass," and
"business books are bullshit and usually written by wankers."
the book chronicles the beginnings of ryanair in the 80s to its rise an airline that carried 40m passengers and made 470 million euros in profit in 2007. it's very thorough, covering all kinds of machinations and intrigue between ryanair and the large state-run airlines over the past 20 years. fascinating also is how o'leary changed the airline biz model so that he didn't make the majority of his money from airfares, instead focusing on a extremely low-cost, high-volume model that makes revenue from selling ancillary services to passengers.
ultimately, their success can be attributed to three things:
a) cutting costs mercilessly, especially signing sweetheart deals with airports near major city centers that were dying for passengers (stanstead near london, for example)
b) rampant and cheeky promotion by o'leary which, good or bad, always caused ticket sales to spike (one of my fave stories is about him, post-9/11, driving a tank towards an airport declaring a war on low fares... also see this latest hilarious clip which has o'leary declaring in a press conference that blowjobs will be included on transatlantic flights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfIY24...)
c) a culture of experimentation that allows ryanair to move quickly to try, fail, learn, and rapidly respond to changing market conditions
don't read this unless you're interested in the airline industry - it's not as wide-ranging or personal as branson's losing my virginity. but if you are the least bit curious about how ryanair got to where it is today, this is the book for you.
"there's no point in having some long-term plan because a long-term plan gets knocked on its ass," and
"business books are bullshit and usually written by wankers."
the book chronicles the beginnings of ryanair in the 80s to its rise an airline that carried 40m passengers and made 470 million euros in profit in 2007. it's very thorough, covering all kinds of machinations and intrigue between ryanair and the large state-run airlines over the past 20 years. fascinating also is how o'leary changed the airline biz model so that he didn't make the majority of his money from airfares, instead focusing on a extremely low-cost, high-volume model that makes revenue from selling ancillary services to passengers.
ultimately, their success can be attributed to three things:
a) cutting costs mercilessly, especially signing sweetheart deals with airports near major city centers that were dying for passengers (stanstead near london, for example)
b) rampant and cheeky promotion by o'leary which, good or bad, always caused ticket sales to spike (one of my fave stories is about him, post-9/11, driving a tank towards an airport declaring a war on low fares... also see this latest hilarious clip which has o'leary declaring in a press conference that blowjobs will be included on transatlantic flights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfIY24...)
c) a culture of experimentation that allows ryanair to move quickly to try, fail, learn, and rapidly respond to changing market conditions
don't read this unless you're interested in the airline industry - it's not as wide-ranging or personal as branson's losing my virginity. but if you are the least bit curious about how ryanair got to where it is today, this is the book for you.
March 10, 2010
O'Leary has been badly let down by Ruddock. The early chapters dealing with o'Learys upbringing, his schooling and time at university were very poorly crafted. This is what happens when you go for the cheap no frills option.
The early days, the time of influences, cried out for a Wilbur Smith to paint the picture of the small, unattractive yet plucky country boy, so we could later see past the public image of the deranged gurning knacker of a culchie and somehow see a man we could love.
Instead we get the cringing bullshit doubletalk of the double glazing salesman. If you didn't have an opinion of o'Leary before you threw away this waste of paper and print after 20 pages, the chances are you had a very poor opinion of him after.
The early days, the time of influences, cried out for a Wilbur Smith to paint the picture of the small, unattractive yet plucky country boy, so we could later see past the public image of the deranged gurning knacker of a culchie and somehow see a man we could love.
Instead we get the cringing bullshit doubletalk of the double glazing salesman. If you didn't have an opinion of o'Leary before you threw away this waste of paper and print after 20 pages, the chances are you had a very poor opinion of him after.
November 26, 2010
This became rather dry, and I soon yearned for more quotations from the man himself – you only learn at the end that he’d no interest in helping the author write the book. It is thought provoking for a business book, and makes you wonder if you could survive the burning intensity and obsession that drives this man. Working with Lactalis, you’d give your eye teeth to see someone in our business operate with one hundredth of the vision and direction this guy built Ryanair with. It’s quite obvious that he’s a one-off, an eccentric and driven by something beyond explanation, even his own explanation. Not as good as the previous Ryanair book I read, and I was surprised I got through over 400 pages to the end of it.
December 12, 2012
Interesting read however it is very similar to the Ryanair book and focuses a lot more on the development of Ryanair than MO'L himself. I suppose this is understandable as his life is pretty much consumed by Ryanair. There are many humorous parts to the book which perfectly highlight his personality. Undoubtedly he is a fantastic businessman and has revolutionized the European Airline industry.
January 18, 2014
Entertaining to read, but after hundreds of pages only about Ryanair it gets a little bit boring. I expected more information about O'Leary's life. I think it's a great book to read only if you are a really big fan of Ryanair and the whole aviation business. Otherwise kinda boring.
August 3, 2011
Very interesting story - yes O'Leary can come across as a bit of a twat but I think he's a legend! Great businessman, did amazing things for Ireland & aviation in general!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews