[1] As a player, he was predominantly associated with his time with Velež Mostar where he won the 1981 Yugoslav Cup before joining Swedish club Örebro SK, the place his son, professional footballer Dražen, was born before ending his career soon after.

[3] Okuka was the captain of the under-21 side at the 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where Yugoslavia (led by a coaching duo of Ivan Toplak and Stevan Vilotić) reached the semi-final where they lost to the Soviet Union.

His time at the club was short-lived, and he would soon have to face challenges outside football when his life would be disrupted by the Bosnian War in 1992, however in early 1995 Okuka would make his first foray into management when he was hired by struggling Yugoslavian team FK Bečej and lead them to fourth within the 1994–95 league season.

Still regarded as one of the country's most promising coaches, he would join highly ambitious football club FK Obilić despite the questionable ownership of career criminal Željko Ražnatović.

He wouldn't wait too long before joining Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia in June 2008; however, the highlight of his reign was a short stint within the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, and, after being unable to mount a title challenge during his time with the club, they decided not to renew his contract.

[11] He would strive to make Jiangsu Sainty the Chinese Super League runner-up in 2012, with only 4 points to equal Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande at the end of the season.