Collins was born in London in 1937, the younger daughter of Elsa Bessant and Joseph William Collins, a theatrical agent whose clients included Shirley Bassey, The Beatles and Tom Jones. Collins' South African-born father was Jewish and her British mother was Anglican. A middle child, Collins has an elder sister, actress Joan Collins (b.1933) and a younger brother, Bill Collins (b. 1946).

At 15, Collins was expelled from school; after which, she threw her school uniform in the Thames. During this period she had a brief sexual affair with Marlon Brando who was 29 at the time.

Like her sister, Collins began in acting roles, in a series of British B movies in the 1950s. She also made appearances in the 1960s ITC television series Danger Man and The Saint before giving up an on-screen career. She has since played herself in a few television series including Minder in 1980.

1960s

Collins' first novel, The World Is Full of Married Men, was published in 1968. Romance writer Barbara Cartland called it "nasty, filthy and disgusting". It was banned in Australia and South Africa, but the scandal bolstered sales in the USA and the UK. Collins' second novel, The Stud, was published in 1969 and followed the sexually charged affairs of married Fontaine Khaled, who owns a fashionable London nightclub. It also made the bestseller lists.

1970s

Collins' third novel, Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick, (first published under the title The Hollywood Zoo in the UK and then retitled Sinners worldwide in 1984) was published in 1971 and again made the bestseller lists. This was Collins' first novel to be set in the United States.

Lovehead followed in 1974 (retitled as The Love Killers in 1989). This novel was Collins' first foray into the world of organized crime — a genre that would later prove to be extremely successful for her. The plot concerned the organised murder of women's rights activist and feminist Margaret Lawrence Brown. Three women - two who are Margaret's half sisters and one whom she saved from a life of working in the porn industry - plan revenge on the mobster responsible, Enzio Bassalino.

Following this, Collins published The World Is Full Of Divorced Women (unrelated to her first novel) in 1975, and then her longest novel, Lovers & Gamblers, in 1977 which told the story of rock/soul superstar Al King.

In the late 1970s, Collins made a foray into writing for the screen. In 1978, she co-wrote the screenplay for the film version of her 1969 novel The Stud, which starred her older sister Joan as the gold-digging adulteress Fontaine Khaled. Following this, Collins wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of her first novel The World Is Full Of Married Men, which was released in 1979. She also released her seventh novel, The Bitch, a sequel to The Stud, which was also made into a successful film the same year, with Joan Collins reprising the role. The film version of The Bitch was written and directed by Gerry O'Hara, based on Collins' source novel. Also in 1979, Collins wrote an original screenplay (not based on any of her novels) for the film Yesterday's Hero.

1980s

In the 1980s, Collins and her family moved to Los Angeles on a full time basis. Her next novel was Chances, published in 1981 and which she described as her first Harold Robbins-type novel. It was also the first novel to introduce her most famous character, Lucky Santangelo, the "dangerously beautiful" daughter of a one-time gangster Gino Santangelo.

While living in the hills above Sunset Boulevard, Collins collected the knowledge and experience to write her most successful novel, Hollywood Wives, which was published in 1983. The novel hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one, and went on to sell fifteen million copies worldwide. Marketed as a "scandalous exposé", the novel placed Collins in a powerful position and made her a celebrity of almost equal status to sister Joan, whose own career had taken an upwards direction with her role in the hit television drama Dynasty. In 1985, Hollywood Wives was also made into a hugely successful television mini-series, produced by Aaron Spelling and starring Candice Bergen, Stefanie Powers, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Hopkins, Suzanne Sommers and Rod Steiger. Although credited as "Creative Consultant", Collins later stated that she was never consulted during production and that she did not agree with some of the casting choices.

She then went on to write the sequel to Chances entitled Lucky (published in 1985), followed by Hollywood Husbands (1986), and Rock Star (1988).

1990s

In 1990, Collins published her third Lucky Santangelo novel, Lady Boss. Also in 1990, she wrote and co-produced the television mini-series Lucky Chances, which combined her first two Lucky Santangelo novels and starred Nicolette Sheridan in the lead role and Sandra Bullock.

In 1992, Collins was widowed when her husband of 26 years, Oscar Lerman, died of cancer. Around this time, she also wrote and produced another mini-series based on her third Lucky Santangelo novel Lady Boss (with Kim Delaney now playing the lead role).

Collins went on to pen several more bestsellers; American Star (1993), Hollywood Kids (1994) and the fourth Santangelo novel, Lucky's Revenge (1996).

In 1998, Collins made a foray into talk-show television with the series Jackie Collins' Hollywood, but this was unsuccessful. She then released a new novel, Thrill (1998), and also wrote a four-part series of mini-novels to be released in a newspaper every six weeks called L.A. Connections, introducing a new heroine in the form of investigative journalist Madison Castelli. The fifth Lucky Santangelo novel, Dangerous Kiss, was published in 1999.

2000s

The 2000s turned out to be Collins' busiest time and she published eight bestsellers, more than any other decade in her career. In 2000, Collins brought back the character of Madison Castelli in a new novel, Lethal Seduction. In 2001 she published Hollywood Wives: The New Generation, which itself was later turned into a television movie starring Farrah Fawcett, Melissa Gilbert and Robin Givens (Collins was credited as Executive Producer).

A new Madison Castelli novel, Deadly Embrace, was published in 2002, and Hollywood Divorces was published in 2003. In 2004, Collins hosted a series of television specials, Jackie Collins Presents, for E! Entertainment Television.

In 2006, after being signed to publisher Simon & Schuster for twenty years, Collins signed with St. Martin's Press as her North American publisher though she remains with Simon & Schuster internationally.

Collins continued with Lovers & Players in 2006 and the sixth Lucky Santangelo novel, Drop Dead Beautiful, in 2007. Her most recent novels include Married Lovers (2008), about the affairs of a female personal trainer named Cameron Paradise. This was followed in 2009 by Poor Little Bitch Girl, which stemmed from an idea Collins had worked on for a television series about heiresses that was ultimately never made.

In 2010, Paris Connections, a direct-to-DVD movie adapted from Collins' L.A. Connections series of mini-novels was made by Amber Entertainment in association with the UK supermarket chain Tesco. The movie stars Charles Dance, Trudie Styler, and Nicole Steinwedell as Madison Castelli. Collins served as co-producer, and three more Connections movies with the Madison Castelli character are planned.

Although Collins initially said on her official website that there would probably be no more Lucky Santangelo novels after Drop Dead Beautiful, she is now actually working on the seventh book in the series, Goddess of Vengeance, to be published in 2011. Also according to her official website, she is currently writing a play entitled Jackie Collins' Hollywood Lies.

Collins married her first husband, Wallace Austin, in 1959. They had a daughter and divorced after four and a half years.

Collins married for the second time to art gallery and Ad-Lib Nightclub owner Oscar Lerman on 15 June 1965, in the home of sister Joan and (then) husband Anthony Newley. Collins and Lerman had two daughters together and Lerman formally adopted Collins' daughter from her previous marriage. Lerman died in 1992 from prostate cancer. In 1994 Collins became engaged to Los Angeles business executive Frank Calcagnini. Calcagnini died in 1998 from a brain tumor.

Collins now lives her life, in her own words, "like a cool bachelor. I have a man for all seasons." She resides in Beverly Hills in a mansion she designed herself.

• The World Is Full Of Married Men (1968)
• The Stud (1969)
• Sinners (first published as Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick) (1971)
• The Love Killers (first published as Lovehead) (1974)
• The World Is Full Of Divorced Women (1975)
• Lovers & Gamblers (1977)
• The Bitch (1979)
• Rock Star (1988)
• American Star (1993)
• Thrill (1998)
• Lovers & Players (2006)
• Married Lovers (2008)
• Poor Little Bitch Girl (2009 [UK] - 2010 [US])

Hollywood Series

• Hollywood Wives (1983)
• Hollywood Husbands (1986)
• Hollywood Kids (1994)
• The New Generation (2001)
• Hollywood Divorces (2003)

The Santangelo Novels

• Chances (1981)
• Lucky (1985)
• Lady Boss (1990)
• Lucky's Revenge (1996)
• Dangerous Kiss (1999)
• Drop Dead Beautiful (2007)
• Goddess of Vengeance (coming in 2011)

Madison Castelli Series

• L. A. Connections (serialised novel):
• Power (1998)
• Obsession (1998)
• Murder (1998)
• Revenge (1998)
• Lethal Seduction (2000)
• Deadly Embrace (2002)