She was born in Kiev and grew up in Police nad Metují. She studied Comparative and East European Studies at Charles University. Her poetry collection Osip míří na jih (Osip Is Heading South) was nominated for the 2016 Magnesia Litera Award in the Discovery of the Year category. Marie Iljašenko was also nominated for the Dresden Lyric Prize (2014) and the Václav Burian Prize (2016). In 2018, she published her second collection, Sv. Outdoor (St. Outdoor), which focuses on the contrasting motifs of home and having to leave home.