After starting his senior pro career with his hometown club KK Vojvodina, he transferred to Crvena zvezda from Belgrade.

He stayed there for two seasons, which was enough for Olympiacos to notice his talent and offer him a move to Piraeus.

[2] His career in the NBA was not particularly successful, and he returned to Europe the following off-season, after winning the FIBA EuroBasket 2001 with the senior Yugoslavian national team.

It was with Olympiacos, that Tarlać made a name for himself, earning a call up to the senior FR Yugoslavia national squad (Serbia-Montenegro).

The issue was finally straightened out, and he was allowed to compete for the senior Serbo-Montenegrin national basketball team at the FIBA EuroBasket 1999 in France, along with his fellow countrymen Peja Stojaković and Milan Gurović, who were also in the same situation, having also taken Greek citizenship.