He attended the teacher’s seminar in Küsnacht and eventually, after a series of job changes, got a permanent position in Oerlikon, which he held until his death.
His preferred place to write was in the Zürich's cafés, where he travelled from Oerlikon by tram after school.
There he met other Zürich writers, e.g. professor of literature Fritz Ernst, literary reviewer Bernhard Diebold, his friend Traugott Vogel or Rudolf Jakob Humm.
Three weeks before his death at the age of 46, Zollinger met the young Max Frisch on the Pfannenstiel.
Zollinger died in Zürich, and is buried in an honorary grave at the “Nordheim” cemetery in Oerlikon.