The aim of this paper is to introduce an extension of the inverse Weibull distribution which offers a more flexible distribution for modeling lifetime data. We extend the inverse Weibull distribution by Marshall–Olkin method (MOEIW). Some statistical properties of the MOEIW are explored, such as quantiles, moments and reliability. Moreover, the estimation of the MOEIW parameters is discussed by using Maximum Likelihood Estimation method. In addition, the estimation of the stress-strength parameter is discussed. Finally, the proposed extended model is applied on real data and the results are given which illustrate the superior performance of the MOEIW distribution compared to other models.