At the age of 15 Kolega competed in his first FIS races on his local mountain Sljeme near Zagreb . Just one year later he took part in a world championship for the first time in Schladming and was classified in the giant slalom in 69th place. In March 2014, he did only marginally better at the Junior World Championship in Jasná , but was able to improve in three other JWM participations and won in 2016 in Sochi the bronze medal in the slalom behind his teammate Istok Rodeš . He has been competing in the European Cup since the 2013/14 season and has so far achieved three placements among the top ten.
On January 6, 2015, he made his World Cup debut in the Zagreb Slalom. It wasn't until two years later that he contested his second race at the same location. In his third appearance at a World Cup , he achieved a slalom result for the first time in St. Moritz , but did not get beyond a 60th place. After taking part in giant slalom several times, he won his first World Cup points with 21st place in the Wengen slalom on January 14, 2018. At his first Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , he finished 23rd in slalom. On January 13, 2019, he surprisingly finished sixth in the Adelboden slalom with start number 48.
Elias and his brother Samuel are trained by Ivica Kostelić and his father Ante . You live in Zagreb.