Kevin Collins, born Keith Collins, was brought up at a village near Newcastle, England, by parents whose beliefs were socialist and devoutly Methodist.

He was the long-time roommate and partner of the director Derek Jarman. The two met at the Tyneside Film Festival in 1987. At the time, Collins was writing software for the government.

Collins helped and assisted Jarman throughout his final illness, up until the director's death in 1994.

In his diaries, Jarman referred to Collins as 'H.B.,' which apparently stood for 'Hinneybeast.'

Collins is said to be a 'long-boarder' (apparently a reference to long-board surfing) and to have worked for a number of years in the 1990s and 2000s as a fisherman.

In 2000, he was the editor of the book 'Smiling In Slow Motion: Derek Jarman.'

He continued to oversee and manage the famous gardens built by Jarman at his house 'Prospect Cottage,' in Dungeness, Kent, England until his death from a brain tumour in the summer of 2018.