Investigations on adaptive optics conducted during the last fifteen years at the Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences are summarized in this paper. The atmospheric turbulence is one of the most important factors which determine the limit of achievable characteristics of the present optoelectronic systems. Therefore, the main attention is paid in the paper to the adaptive optics capability to eliminate the effect of atmospheric turbulence on the formation of laser beams and optical images.