Kollmann was born in Germany and having received an initial artistic education in Munich, moved to St. Petersburg as a seventeen-year-old and studied under his uncle, the famous etcher Ignaz Sebastian Klauber (1753-1817). In St. Petersburg he started to explore the medium of watercolour, whilst simultaneously developing a fascination with Russian folk traditions and culture that was to manifest itself throughout his career and oeuvre. His work was clearly influenced by the genre watercolours of Alexander Osipovich Orlovsky, who often depicted the daily life of St. Petersburg. Due to the skill and excellent reception of his watercolours, the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg elevated him to the rank of Academician.

Kollmann also worked as a private drawing tutor and notably acted as a draughtsman for Auguste Ricard de Montferrand (1786-1858) in the designs for the Alexander Column and the construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg.