She worked as a teacher at Hørsholm Municipal School before joining the Danish Social Liberal Party in 1967.
Olesen was brought up in a house where her father was a left-wing trade unionist and her mother did homemaking.
[4][5] She began working as the co-owner and employee of her husband's design studio from 1970,[3] as well as becoming chair of the local voters association in the same year.
[2] She was county-secretary for the Danish Social Liberal Party in Frederiksborg County from 1969 to 1971; vice-chair of the Danish Social Liberal Party's organising committee between 1970 and 1972; secretary of the Danish Social Liberal Party's municipal policy committee between 1972 and 1973 and subsequently chair between 1973 and 1974 and again from 1977 to 1979; member of the Ministry of Justice's marriage committee from 1975 to 1983 and of the Road Safety Commission between 1980 and 1988; member of the Nordic Council from 1984 to 1988; and chair of the Folketing's Social Affairs Committee between 1987 and 1988.
[2] Olesen supported voluntary social work for young people and attempted to legislate a ban on smoking and the workplace in public since she was an avid anti-smoker.
[5][7] The commission produced 20 presentations and reports on multiple sub-areas, of which she attempted to address some taboos and expressed hope she wanted to eliminate some increase in income transfers and all demands should be placed on social benefit claimants.
[3] She was a co-signator of a 2007 open letter asking the party's parliamentary group to support a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.