We describe measurements of the lifetimes of metastable states in one- and two-electron nickel ions. The 2 2 S 1/2 level in one-electron nickel was found to have a lifetime of 217.1(1.8) ps, in agreement with a theoretical calculation of 215.45 ps. The lifetimes of the 2 1 S 0 and 2 3 P 2 levels in two-electron nickel were found to be 156.1(1.6) and 70(3) ps, respectively, in agreement with the theoretical results of 154.J(0.5) and 70.6 ps. We also studied the phenomenon of hyperne quenching of the He-like 2 3 P 0 level by comparing decay curves for the isotopes 61 Ni and 58 Ni