Nikolayev began his career in 1961 after graduating from
Omsk State Agrarian University as a veterinarian in the Zhigansky district. Then he switched to the Komsomol work: first secretary of the
Zhigansky district Komsomol committee, head of the department of the Komsomol authority of the Yakutsk regional Komsomol committee, first secretary of the Yakutsk city committee of the Komsomol. He was member of the
CPSU from 1963 until its ban in August 1991. From 1969 to 1971, he studied at the
Higher Party School at the Central Committee of the CPSU. From 1975 to 1979, Nikolayev was the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of
YASSR. From 1979 to 1985, he served as the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic. This was the period when the republic came to the forefront of the Russian Federation in the production of agricultural products, and new and bold endeavours were undertaken in the meadow, seed production, and other areas. From 1985 to 1989 he was the Secretary of the Yakut Regional Committee of the CPSU, overseeing the issues of the agro-industrial complex. during the latter's visit to the Sakha Republic In December 1989, he was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the YASSR. In April 1990, he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic IX – XI convocations and people's deputy of Yakutia of the XII convocation. On
20 December 1991, Nikolayev was elected as the inaugural
President of Yakutia, receiving 76.7% of the vote. He was elected as a member of the anti-communist, Yakut nationalist
Sakha Omuk party, though he later grew distant from the party and came to oppose its aims, particularly those of the radical, pro-independence faction of the party. On 16 January 1992, M.E. Nikolayev simultaneously headed the government of the republic. On 27 December 1991, the Yakut-Sakha Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). In
1996, he was re-elected for a second term, gaining 58.96% of the vote. Nikolayev was a member of the Federation Council of the first and second convocations. On 28 January 2002, he was appointed representative in the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Elected Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council. In February 2007, he was the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), V.A. Shtyrov, and was re-appointed M.E. Nikolayev as a representative of the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to the Council of Federation. Nikolayev was a member of the Committee of the Council of the Federation on Social Policy, member of the Commission of the Council of the Federation to monitor the activities of the Council of Federation. In December 2011, he was elected to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VI convocation from United Russia. Member of the State Duma Committee on Regional Policy and the Problems of the North and the Far East. By decision of the Head of the Republic Egor Borisov on 31 October, Mikhail Nikolayev was appointed a State Counselor of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in connection with the expiration of the powers of the deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Nikolayev was also the head of several public organizations. President of the International Public Movement "Eastern Dimension", President of the National Public Committee "Russian Family". ==Personal life and death==