Olteanu was the silver medallist at the 1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, setting a lifetime best of 1:09:15. She was victorious at the 1996 European Cross Country Championships but was stripped of her title as she had failed a test for the steroid stanozolol and received a two-year competitive ban for doping. After her ban had expired, she was again selected for the Romanian cross country and half marathon teams, but failed to medal. She competed in her first marathon in 2002 but retired from international competition in 2003.