Dimitrios Plapoutas (Koliopoulos) was born in Palouba, Arcadia, on 15 May 1786. He was the second-born son of Kolias (Nikolas) Plapoutas and Kyratso Tzortzis, and brother of the revolutionary Georgakis Plapoutas. On 20 May 1803, he became connected to the Kolokotronis family through his marriage to Stekoula, first cousin of Theodoros Kolokotronis and daughter of Anagnostis Kolokotronis. In 1806, Dimitrakis Plapoutas and his father were arrested by the Ottomans and held as hostages during the persecution of the klephts in the Peloponnese. In 1811, he travelled to Zakynthos and served as a centurion in the British army, but returned to the Peloponnese the following year in order to succeed his father as kapos (head of the personal guard) of the Deligiannis family.
On 15 October 1818, Plapoutas was initiated into the Filiki Etaireia by the revolutionary Anagnostis Tsochantaris and contributed 5,000 grosia to its cause. He was an active and energetic member of the Society, expanding its network primarily among armed klephts and armatoloi in the Peloponnese. In 1818, he was wounded in a bloody incident in the village of Alonistaina, Arcadia, which resulted in the deaths of two Ottomans. As a consequence, Nikitaras was forced to flee to the Ionian Islands, while Plapoutas avoided prosecution thanks to the intervention of Kanellos Deligiannis.
The Plapoutas family proclaimed the Revolution in mountainous Gortynia on 21 March 1821, assembling an armed force in the village of Betsi. Dimitrakis Plapoutas participated in numerous military operations in the Peloponnese. After the death of his brother in the Battle of Lalas, Elis, in June 1821, he assumed command of the military unit in the region of Liodora. In the summer of 1822, he was awarded the rank of chiliarch, and the following year rose to the highest levels of military leadership, serving as a General of the Revolution. He distinguished himself in the battles of Arcadia, Elis, Patras, Corinth, and Argos. His contribution was significant at Valtetsi, Mantineia, Agios Vlasios near Tripolis, and in the Battle of Lalas, where he fought alongside his brother Georgakis. During the Siege of Tripolitsa, he was entrusted with the safe escort of the Albanian garrison to Vostitsa (Aigio). In 1822, he joined forces with Gennaios Kolokotronis in the battles around Patras and later moved toward Argos to confront Dramali Pasha. After the repulsion of the Ottoman forces, he served for a time as Garrison Commander of Nafplio.
During the first phase of the civil war, Plapoutas supported the Anti-Government faction represented by Theodoros Kolokotronis, yet remained conciliatory, seeking compromise between the opposing sides. In the second phase, he disagreed with Kolokotronis’s stance, primarily due to the conflict that had erupted with the Deligiannis family over control of the province of Karytaina. He personally undertook the negotiations for Kolokotronis’s surrender and his transfer to Nafplio. Following the arrival of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt in the Peloponnese, Plapoutas participated in military operations and distinguished himself in the battles of Drampala, Trikorfa, and Kafikaria in Kalavryta.
After the arrival of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Plapoutas was awarded the rank of Colonel, and in 1829 he was elected representative of Gortynia to the Fourth National Assembly held in Argos. After the resignation of Augustinos Kapodistrias, the Senate selected him as one of the seven members of the Administrative Committee of Greece (2 April 1832), whose primary task was to convene a National Assembly. On 7 September 1832, Plapoutas departed for Munich as a member of the Reception Committee tasked with escorting King Otto to Greece. The following year, he was arrested as an anti-regime conspirator on charges of “plotting against the King” and was sentenced to death alongside Theodoros Kolokotronis. The sentence was initially commuted to life imprisonment, but he was eventually granted clemency on the day of the young king’s coming of age, and Plapoutas was released on 29 May 1835.
Dimitrakis Plapoutas remained active in public affairs until the end of his life. He became adjutant to King Otto, participated in the National Assembly of 1844, and was elected Member of Parliament (1844–1847) and Senator (1847–1862). In 1861, he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General in recognition of his service to the nation. He died in July 1864 at the age of 78 in Palouba, Arcadia.