Born in the suburb of the capital Belgrade, Isakov attended primary school in the villages of Tovariševo and Silbaš near Bačka Palanka.
He then completed secondary education (gymnasium) in Novi Sad and also attended high school in Carsonville, a village in the US state of Michigan.
In 1974, he graduated from the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Philosophy with a degree in Yugoslav literature.
During the late 1980s he wrote the screenplay of the comedy series Specijalna redakcija starring Đorđe Balašević, Bogdan Diklić, Aleksandar Berček, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, and Mira Banjac among others.
Disillusioned with the way things were going, Isakov resigned his post in 2004, and eventually left politics altogether.