Yiannis Kottis was born in 1949 in Corinthia, Greece. He attended the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA), and as a student, he was taking lessons in the workshop of Yannis Moralis and Nikos Nikolaou. He continued his studies at the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris.

His work has been shown in several galleries crossover Europe and abroad, and therefore many of his paintings can be found in private and public collections in Greece and abroad.

He currently lives and works in Paris, France.