The alkaline lipase gene of Penicillium expansum (PEL) was coloned into the yeast integrative plasmid pPIC3.5K, which was then transformed into His4 mutant yeast GS115. Recombinant Pichia strains were obtained by minimal olive oil-methanol plates screening and confirmed by PCR. The expression producus of PEL gene was analysis by SDS-PAGE and olive oil plate, the result indicated that PEL gene was functionally overexpressed in Pichia pastoris and up to 95% of the secreted protein. Recombinant lipase had a molecular mass of 28kD, showing a range similar to that of PEL, could hydrolyze olive oil and formed clear halos in the olive oil plates. Four different strategies (different media, pH, glycerol and methanol concentration) were applied to optimize the cultivation conditions, the activity of lipase was up to 260 u/mL under the optimal cultivation conditions. It is pointed out that the absence of the expensive biotin and yeast nitrogen base in the medium increased the lipase production. The possible reason of this result is absence of yeast nitrogen base increased the medium pH during cultivation, and PEL shows a higher stability at this condition. The lipase activity of the supernatant from the culture grown at pH 7 was higher than the one from the culture in the same medium at pH 6.0 is due to the pH stability of PEL too. The results also showed that the methanol and glycerol concentration had a marked effect on the production of lipase.