He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1972 beating B. C. Patil of the Indian National Congress (Organisation) by over 11,000 votes.

The 1985 elections was more hard-fought as he won against Patil Basanagouda Guranagouda of the Janata Party by 700 votes, narrowly winning the seat.

Koliwadi once again retained the Ranibennur Legislative Assembly seat by beating Tilavalli Shivanna Gurappa of the Janata Dal (United) by about 5,000 votes.

[1] A son, Prakash Koliwad, who is the secretary of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, is a businessman who runs a cloud-seeding company.

He runs an NGO PKK trust, where he does social work organizing health camps, singing competitions, job fairs, skill development training, and free ambulance services..[13] Koliwad belongs to the Raddi Lingayat community which is the dominant caste in North Karnataka.