Kataoka was born in Hokkaido on November 23, 1950. He studied at the College of Economics at Kanto Gakuin University but dropped out before graduation. In the early 1980s he began to work at producer-director Kan Mukai's Shishi Productions. At first he worked as an assistant director for Mukai and Yōjirō Takita and then released his debut film as a director in 1983, Yokoku Bōkō: Yaru! Sasu!, the first of a series of action films starring Usagi Asō distributed by the Toei Company.
