In the early 1990s he became involved in politics and became a prominent member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which led to his appointment to a series of offices.

[2] When first democratic elections were announced in Croatia, Vrdoljak was among 200 top intellectuals publicly endorsing the moderate Coalition of People's Accord.

By the end of campaign, he switched his support for the more hardline Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Franjo Tuđman, with whom he developed a close friendship.

He received praise for his two early films as a director and screenwriter, Kad čuješ zvona (1969) and U gori raste zelen bor (1971).

[7] Vrdoljak worked on television, with his 1972 mini-series Prosjaci i sinovi, based on the script (and later the novel) by Ivan Raos, later receiving a cult status.

Vrdoljak also garnered favorable attention for his adaptations of Kiklop (from the novel by Ranko Marinković, 1982) and The Glembays (from the play by Miroslav Krleža, 1988).

After securing funding from new government, he directed Duga mračna noć, a mini-series about World War II in Slavonia.

[8] In 2019, he directed a state-funded movie entitled General which depicts the life of Ante Gotovina, budgeted at 3 million euros.

[citation needed] He is the father-in-law of actor Goran Višnjić who is married to Vrdoljak's daughter, Ivana, an artist known as Eva Višnjić/Eva Visnjic.