Lievesley studied undergraduate statistics at UCL, gaining a BSc in 1971.
While Director of the Data Archive, Lievesley held the position of Professor of Research Methods at the University of Essex. She has served as a United Nations Special Adviser on Statistics, stationed in Addis Ababa.[2]
Until 2015, Lievesley was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy and Professor of Social Statistics at King's College London, where she remains an honorary professor.[2] From 2015 to 2020 she was Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford,[7][8] where she remains an honorary fellow.[9] She is currently a lay member of the Council of Durham University.[10]
In June 2023, it was announced she would lead a review of the UK Statistics Authority as part of the regular cycle of reviews of UK public bodies.[11]