Lisa Martinek studied acting at the Hamburg University for Music and Theatre from 1993 to 1997. During that time she also performed at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg and acted in several TV and film productions. From 1997 to 2001 she was a member of the Schauspielhaus Leipzig, engagements with Schauspiel Frankfurt and Deutsches Theater Berlin followed. For her role as bike courier Lena in the movie Trial by Fire (Härtetest) she was nominated for the Deutscher Filmpreis, the highest German movie award, in 1998. She was also nominated for the Deutscher Fernsehpreis (German Television Award) in the category Best Lead for her work in the made-for-TV movie Jagd auf den Flammenmann. She starred alongside Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz in the 2007 made-for-TV remake of Helmut Käutner's Die Zürcher Verlobung and played the role of Juliane, which, in the original 50 years prior, had been played by Lilo Pulver. From 2006 to 2011 she starred as inspector Clara Hertz alongside Charlotte Schwab in the ZDF crime series Das Duo. Lisa Martinek lives with her husband Giulio Ricciarelli and their children in Berlin and Munich.