Boullier is a graduate of the Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Appliquées, a French engineering school where he studied aeronautical and spacecraft engineering. His grounding in engineering rather than on-track driving shaped a career built around team management and technical organisation.
In 2002 he joined the Spanish Racing Engineering outfit as chief engineer, taking charge of its World Series by Nissan programme. Early in 2003 he moved to the French DAMS team, becoming managing and technical director; his brief there also encompassed the A1 Team France operation. DAMS gave Boullier his first sustained experience running a multi-discipline motorsport programme at European level.
At the end of 2008 Boullier became CEO of Gravity Sport Management, a driver management agency whose clients included Ho-Pin Tung, Adrien Tambay, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, and Christian Vietoris.
After the 2009 season the Renault F1 team was acquired by investment company Genii Capital, whose leading figure Gerard Lopez was a significant backer of Gravity Sport. On 5 January 2010 Boullier was announced as the new team principal — a notable appointment given that he had never previously worked in Formula One. The team finished fifth in the World Constructors' Championship that year.
Following Renault's formal withdrawal of its factory backing, the outfit was rebranded as Lotus Renault GP for 2011 and again finished fifth in the constructors' standings. It was renamed once more as Lotus F1 Team for 2012 and retained that identity through 2013, with Boullier continuing as principal throughout both seasons. His four-year tenure brought consistency and a degree of competitiveness to a team operating with resources considerably smaller than those of the leading outfits. He resigned on 24 January 2014, with Lopez assuming the team principal role with immediate effect.
Just five days after leaving Lotus, on 29 January 2014, Boullier was appointed racing director of the McLaren Formula One team under chairman and chief executive Ron Dennis. The announcement formed part of a broader senior management restructure across McLaren Group's racing division.
His tenure coincided with the turbulent McLaren-Honda partnership years, a period marked by chronic reliability problems and acute performance shortcomings as the team attempted to rebuild its competitive standing. The combination of a challenging technical partnership and a difficult internal environment made the role one of the more demanding in the paddock. Boullier announced his resignation from McLaren Racing on 4 July 2018.
In February 2019 Boullier joined the French Grand Prix organisation as strategic sports and operational advisor and ambassador, bringing his paddock connections and management experience to bear on the event's commercial and sporting profile. He was elevated to managing director of the organisation in January 2020.
In 2019 Boullier also briefly competed in the inaugural EnduroKA season, a series for 2002–2008 specification Ford KAs, marking a rare excursion into active competition for someone whose career had been defined entirely by management roles.
Boullier's career arc — from junior formula chief engineer to managing two separate Formula One teams — illustrated how a background in engineering combined with driver management and commercial acumen could open pathways to the highest levels of team leadership. His appointment at Lotus in 2010 without prior Formula One experience was widely noted at the time, and his subsequent move to McLaren underlined his standing within the paddock's management community.
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