Durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is a staple grain crop for millions of people globally. It is also a genetic tool used by scientists and breeders to identify the genetic basis of complex traits in wheat, and a bridge to facilitate transfer of beneficial alleles across the wheat species complex. Many advances have been achieved in durum wheat genetics thanks to the development of a rich collection of genetic resources, spanning from recombinant lines in bi-parental and multiparental crosses, to diversity collections representing durum wheat landraces cultivated worldwide. Here, we discuss the many genetic resources available in durum wheat and their use for improvement and mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for wheat productivity, nutritional quality, and resilience against biotic and abiotic factors.