1980 Olivieri began work as an agricultural engineer at the Paris-Grignon National Agronomic Institute,
AgroParisTech. In 1983 she undertook
postdoctoral work at
Paul Ehrlich's laboratory at
Stanford University in
California. In 1984 she returned to France and was worked as a researcher in genetics and plant breeding at the
Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) in Montpellier. She taught on formal genetics and population genetics, theoretical biology, population biology applied to conservation and biodiversity management. Her research focused on genetics and evolutionary ecology of metapopulations, plant-insect interactions, biological control, conservation biology and biodiversity, evolution and consequences of dispersal, local selection, speciation. She developed a mathematical modelling approach to demographic and evolutionary processes, evolutionary interpretations based on molecular phylogenetics, evolutionary biology of invasions, biodiversity conservation, life cycles, and
speciation. In 2004 Olivieir was elected vice-president of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology, and became President of ESEB in 2007. She was elected vice-president of the American Society for the Study of Evolution the same year. Isabelle Olivieri died of cancer on 10 December 2016 in
Montpellier. == Recognition ==