He has had solo exhibitions at McKenzie Fine Art and Massimo Audiello in New York, and Robischon Gallery in Denver. Group exhibitions include Kavi Gupta and Corbett vs. Dempsey in Chicago, and Novella and Cuevas Tilleard in New York. His work has been reviewed in Art in America, ARTnews, Chicago magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Hyperallergic, New City and The New York Times. Karolak earned a BFA from Pratt Institute in 1997 and an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.