We show that a nickel-amine complex (nickel-diethylenetriamine, Ni-DETA) is an efficient organic template for the one-pot synthesis of Ni-SSZ-13 zeolite. The effects of the reaction compositions, including the molar ratios of SiO2/Al2O3, H2O/Al2O3, Ni-DETA/Al2O3, and Na2O/Al2O3, on the synthesis of the pure product were investigated using different temperatures and synthesis times. Physicochemical characterizations, including XRD, SEM, and Al-27 NMR, show that the zeolitic product has good crystallinity, uniform crystals, and contains a tetrahedral Al3+ species. The N-2 sorption isotherms, TG-DTA curves, IR spectra, and UV-Vis spectra show that Ni-DETA acts as a template in the product obtained. Interestingly, Ni-SSZ-13 zeolite is obtained by the conversion of Ni-Y zeolite produced in the crystallization process.