Ambassador Kolar previously served as deputy minister of foreign affairs for bilateral relations (2003-05), ambassador to Ireland (1999-2003), adviser for European integration and the Balkans to the Czech president (1998-99), and ambassador to Sweden (1996-98). In addition, he served as director of the Eastern and Southern Europe Territorial Department and foreign policy adviser to the foreign minister (1995-96), director of the Department for Czechs Living Abroad and Nongovernmental Relations (1993-95), as well as various postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1993-96). Ambassador Kolar was also a researcher at various institutes, including the Institute for International Relations in Prague, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the Institute for Strategic Studies in Prague, and the Institute for Contemporary History of the Czechoslovak Academy of Science. From 1991 to 1993, he worked as foreign policy editor, commentator and correspondent for a number of Czech dailies and magazines.

Ambassador Kolar studied information technology, library science and ethnography at Charles University, faculty of arts in Prague, and his post-graduate studies were completed at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C., and the University of London, Institute of Historical Research.

He is married to Jaroslava Kolarova and has two sons.