Vodnik pursued Slavic studies in Zagreb, Prague, and Kraków.
Vodnik taught Croatian literature at schools in Karlovac, Osijek, and Zagreb.
He became a professor of Croatian literature at the University of Zagreb in 1911 and held the position until his death.
His most significant work is the History of Croatian Literature: From the Humanism to the late 18th Century (Croatian: Povijest hrvatske književnosti: od humanizma do potkraj XVIII.
The second volume covering the subsequent period remains unfinished, kept as fragmentary work in the Croatian State Archives.