She was 29th in the long race at the 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, sharing in the team bronze medal, while her eleventh-place finish at the 1995 European Cross Country Championships brought Romania the team silver medals at that event. Olteanu ran at the 1995 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships but did not manage to finish the race on that occasion. At the beginning of 1996 she won the Chiba International Cross Country in Japan. She took twelfth place at the 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, helping Romania to another team bronze, and made her Olympic debut on the track in August. Setting a career best mark of 31:26.46 minutes, she came eighth in the women's 10,000 m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.