Jiri Kollert studied double bass at the Brno Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1968. At the Janacek Academy of Performing Arts, also in Brno, he studied composition with Alois Pinos - submitting his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra as his graduation work in 1978 - and then continued as a research student in composition under Milos Istvan, graduating with his Second Symphony and a theoretical dissertation entitled Quarter-tone Sequences. In 1984 he recieved a scholarship to the Summer School of New Music in Darmstadt.
As a double bassist Kollert worked first with the Zlin Symphony Orchestra (1967-1970) and then at the Janacek Opera in Brno (1970-1975). He then moved into education, teaching composition and music theory at the conservatories in Kromeriz (1975-1986), Brno (1986-1989) and Prague (1989-1991). Since 1991 he has taught in the Department of Music Theory and History at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, lecturing on theory of composition (1998 docent). In 1996 he also became a lecturer on composition at the High School of Perfoming Arts in Bratislava. In 1999 - 2004 he accompanied his wife during her diplomatic mission to Japan where he entered into relations with Japan contemporary composers.
Kollert's music - thus far exclusively instrumental - is based on strict, well thought-out structural principles. His early works show the influence of his teacher, composer Alois Pinos. As the years went by, his attention was drawn increasingly to the stylistic aspect of composition, and of late his music may be said to be concerned with the search for a polystylistic language in which a significant role is played by jazz elements and by influence from extra-European cultures. In this way he attempts to address a wider audience. Contemporary critics praise Kollert for his rhythmic and tonal inventiveness, his conciseness of form and his exploration of unusual stylistic possibilities.