Jim Collins was born in Huntington Park, California on December 20, 1926. Jim served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 in the V-6 program. After he was discharged from the Navy he enrolled at UCLA and graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Jim met his wife, Carol, at UCLA and married in 1950. He worked as an engineer building Catholic churches and schools for a couple of years.

Jim began his restaurant career in 1952 when he opened Hamburger Handout, a self-service hamburger stand in Culver City. He became a franchisee of Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1960, and in 1967 purchased the Sizzler Family Steak House chain. In 1968 he formed Collins Foods International (CFI), a public company. In 1991 CFI was restructured as Sizzler International and currently includes 300 Sizzler restaurants worldwide and 119 KFC restaurants in Queensland, Australia. In 1999, Mr. Collins became Sizzler's Chairman Emeritus. Currently, Mr. Collins is a director and shareholder of Sizzler, USA.

Jim is on the Board the Westside Family YMCA. He has also served on the boards of Lawry's Restaurants, Inc., AECOM, the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, Boys & Girls Club of Venice, UCLA Foundation and Cal State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Collins School of Hospitality Management. He is on the UCLA Anderson School Board of Visitors, Emeritus, past President of the UCLA Alumni Association and UCLA Foundation's Board of Trustees and served on the UC Board of Regents. Jim has been a member of the Westwood Village Rotary Club for over 50 years. Awards bestowed on Mr. Collins include the UCLA Medal, UCLA Alumnus of the Year, Honorary Doctorate Degree from Cal State Polytechnic University, Pomona and Beta Theta Pi Oxford Cup.

Mr. Collins lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Carol. They enjoy traveling, UCLA sports and spending time with their four children and five grandchildren and one great grandchild.