[4] She was educated at the Alice Ottley School, Worcester and graduated from King's College, London, with a BA in History in 1974 and MA in War Studies in 1975.

In 2008 she joined City University, London as the Director of the Olive Tree Programme (2008–2016) and Professor of Middle East Policy Studies (2012–18).

[4][6][7] In March 2008, Hollis left Chatham House to join City University, London as the new Director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme, succeeding Dr. Aimee Shalan.

[10] Olive Tree awarded scholarships for exceptional Israeli and Palestinian students to study for an undergraduate degree at City.

The students participated in a specially designed parallel programme – in conjunction with their academic studies – in order to promote further understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.