[8] Wolff worked in haematology at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford under Robert Gwyn Macfarlane,[8] where he invented a machine for counting patients' blood cells, before joining the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit at Llandough Hospital near Cardiff.

He became an honorary member of the European Space Agency in 1975, and in 1983 he founded the Brunel Institute for Bioengineering, which was involved in biological research during weightless spaceflight.

Following retirement, he was emeritus professor of bioengineering at Brunel University, working on a project aimed at addressing the care needs of older people.

[7] Wolff was the scientific director and co-founder of Project Juno, the private British-Soviet joint venture which sent Helen Sharman to the Mir space station.

[12] A familiar face in the 1970s and early 1980s, well known to British television audiences with his memorable bow tie and pronounced German accent, his best remembered programme is The Great Egg Race.

[13] In 1998, he was one of the first people to be interviewed by Ali G, during that character's initial appearances on The 11 O'Clock Show, where the discussion ranged from elementary particles to penis enlargement.