Kolas previously served as spokesperson for the Executive Yuan in 2018, the first Taiwanese aboriginal to hold the position.

In 2016, she was elected as an at-large legislator and an aboriginal affairs representative of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

In 2007, while she was a producer and anchor of "Indigenous Peoples Evening News," the show received an Excellence in Journalism award.

"Wounds of Sami" was nominated for the 2012 Award for Excellence in Journalism,[12][10] "The Death of Wufeng" won the silver at the 2013 Nepal International Aboriginal Film Festival,[13][11] and "Fight for the Island-Punsu No Tao" was nominated for the 2014 International Uranium Film Festival in Rio.

[21] In May 2016, Kolas, Chen Chi-mai, and 17 other legislators proposed a bill to abolish the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.

[23][24] On 5 September 2016, Kolas visited the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.

[26] On 15 February 2017, Kolas accompanied a Taiwanese-Tibetan family to the Executive Yuan to submit a request;[27] on the 20th of the same month, the Ministry of the Interior's Immigration Department abolished the principle of "collective review of the application for residence of Tibetan spouses holding Indian travel permits" and established  “following the Nationality and Immigration Act, Article 16, Item 4, Tibetan residents who have changed their nationality and hold Indian travel permit can apply for stay in Taiwan”.

[28] On 23 April 2017, the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of Kolas, canceled the ceremony of the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, and the Central Government would no longer send representatives of the Ministry to attend the Zheng Chenggong Festival, breaking a 54-year political convention and reflecting Taiwan's change in attitude to identity and multiculturalism.

[29] On 17 June 2018, Kolas was invited by the Hawaiki Project (an Indigenous social initiative) to seek funding from the Council of Indigenous Peoples to allow New Zealand Māori children to come to Taiwan on 23 August 2018 for a 10-day origin trip and participate in traditional tribal ceremonies; and at the same time plan in mid-February 2019, allow Taiwanese aboriginal children go to New Zealand to experience Maori culture.

[32][33] KMT members of the Legislative Yuan argued with the social consensus of the "zero tolerance" policy for Kolas to be dismissed.

[34][35] Ho Hsin-chun, the head of the Democratic Progressive Party Committee, believes that a person who admits their mistake should be given the opportunity.

Kolas Yotaka said she "sympathize 85 °C very much" and also strongly condemns the use of self-righteous ideology in specific countries to suppress free markets and international companies.

[42][43][44][45] Kolas was the spokesperson from the President's Office from May 2020 to July 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully campaign for the governorship of Hualien during the 2022 Taiwanese local elections[46] In 2023, she was appointed again as spokesperson, but resigned in July in response to allegations that she was involved in an affair with a married policeman assigned to her security detail during her governorship campaign.