Jim Charlie was born on the Capilano Reserve in North Vancouver, BC. He is a member of the Squamish Nation of the Coast Salish peoples. Charlie descends from a long line of respected artists. He is the great-grandson of Jericho Charlie, the namesake of Jericho Beach in Vancouver, and the grandson of the late Dominic Charlie, a highly regarded carver who educated Charlie in the histories and culture of the Salish peoples. He has been inspired by those traditions in his artwork and has taken the Thunderbird and Bear as his family crests in honour of his grandfather and grandmother, respectively.
Charlie began carving in his adolescence and has been creating Northwest Coast art for over three decades, almost exclusively in wood. Over the years, he has studied under Salish carvers Floyd Joseph and Jacob Lewis, as well as the renowned Gitksan artist Phil Janze.
Charlie's work represents a variety of Northwest Coast legends and is notable for its broad and accessible style with a northern influence. He has exhibited at the Seattle Art Fair and has completed a commission at the Vancouver International Airport.