Born in Leicester, Patricia Tierney trained at Bush Davies School, Rambert Academy and studied Benesh Movement Notation (BMN) at the Benesh Institute London. She joined the Hamburg Ballet as Choreologist under the direction of John Neumeier in 1987, returning to England in 1992 to work as Choreologist at English National Ballet before joining Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1993 as Dance Notator.

Using BMN she has recorded, assisted, taught and lead rehearsals of many new ballets and revivals of works across Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertoire, as well as staging the choreography of Sir Frederick Ashton: Enigma Variations, Dante Sonata,The Dream; Sir David Bintley: Carmina burana, Cinderella ,E=mc²,Faster, 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café, The Shakespeare Suite; Stanton Welch: Powder, for various companies in Australia, Europe, Japan ,and the USA.

Since 2018 she has managed and organised the BRB Video Archive.

Between 2009 and 2017 Patricia also taught the BMN course ‘Score Reading for Dancers’ to sixth-form students of Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham.