The present disclosure relates to a precursor of a positive electrode active material for a secondary battery including a single layer-structured secondary particle in which pillar-shaped primary particles radially oriented in a surface direction from the particle center are aggregated, wherein the secondary particle has a shell shape, and the primary particle includes a composite metal hydroxide of Ni—Co—Mn of the following Chemical Formula 1, and a positive electrode active material prepared using the same: Ni1−(x+y+z)CoxMyMnz(OH)2  [Chemical Formula 1] In Chemical Formula 1, M, x, y and z have the same definitions as in the specification.