Golan served in the IDF in the military theater. After his military service, he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Regarding his time in the academy, Golan said that even though he knew English, it took him a couple of months to get used to learning plays by William Shakespeare but after that time period he started to dream in Shakespeare's language. In 1996, Golan starred in the Ken Russell-directed TV film Mindbender, a Uri Geller biopic. Later on he appeared in the films Operation YY (2000), Six Million Fragments (2000), Rashevsky's Tango (2003) and Love Life (2007). Golan also appeared in minor roles in a number of American films shot in Israel. In 2011, in the film ' עד סוף הקיץ' (By Summer's End), he played a father who returns to his family for a visit after abandoning them. A year later he co-starred in the provocative film ' הנותנת' (The Slut). His first appearance in a television series was in Fool's gold (1994) , later he appeared on Siton (1995), and in 1999's ' טירונות' (Recruit Training), he portrayed Tomer, a new Israeli soldier who falls in love with Officer Jenia. The role on that show is what convinced Golan to return to Israel after Uri Barbash called to Golan which was still in London during that time and offered him to come back to Israel to play on the show. Golan stated that he remembers that after the phone call ended, he was so happy and full of joy that Barbash was saving him from the desperation that he was experiencing during that time as an actor in his first phases on his career in the acting industry of London.