Lisa McAllister was born in Scotland but raised in Surrey. She worked as a model and in post-production before deciding upon acting.

She landed the title role in Sony's action film The Number One Girl (2006) opposite Vinnie Jones and roles in TV fare such as Sea of Souls (2004), The Bill (1984) and Dream Team (1997) followed, as well as comedic turns in the movies How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) and Just for the Record (2010). Lisa's appearance in the BBC's crime show Sherlock (2010) was praised by The Times as one of "the deftest comedy cameos of the year".