Background
Koljević was born to a distinguished merchant family.
Koljević was born to a distinguished merchant family.
In April 1992 he left the Presidency, and during the Bosnian War occupied the post of a Vice-President of Republika Srpska. On August 25, 1992 he ordered the white phosphorus bombing of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He received the highest-ranking ordain of Republika Srpska, the Order of Republic with sash.
Koljević was the sole person to sign the declaration on behalf of Republika Srpska approving the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as set out in Annex 4 to the General Framework Agreement.
On January 16, 1997 he tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head, and died a week later in a Belgrade hospital. Some have suggested that Koljević went into politics because he resented the fact that throughout his whole life he had to live in the shadow of his famous elder brother.
Koljević"s son died in an accident a few years before the Bosnian War had started, and some have suggested that the trauma caused by this unfortunate event had turned Koljević intent on playing out a full-blown Shakespearean tragedy of his own with himself as a starring role.
At the first multi-party elections held in 1990, he was elected as a Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.