A high level of Staphylococcus haemolyticus L62 lipase was expressed in an Escherichia coli transformant. The expressed lipase activity in the cell-free extract was 70,800 U/l, which corresponded to 30% of the total cellular protein. Pre-mixing of the l62 lipase with some nonionic detergents enhanced its hydrolytic activity towards olive oil: Tween detergents activated the L62 lipase by 3 fold. Gel filtration chromatography of the Tween-80-L62 lipase mixture demonstrated a polymerized complex (∼180 kDa) formed exclusively between Tween-80 and the L62 lipase. The lipase enzyme in the complex showed a higher specific activity towards most triacylglycerols than the intact L62 lipase. The activity enhancement towards each substrate was quite different depending on the acyl chain length; the activity towards tributyrin, trilinolein, and trilinolenin was much more enhanced than the towards the medium and the long-chain saturated triglycerides.