Disclosed is an operation control method of tandem rolling mill that enables rolling under high pressure at a latter-stage stand that is of the tandem rolling mill and that is necessary in such purposes as the production of fine-grained steel. Further disclosed is a method for producing a hot-rolled steel sheet. The operation control method of a tandem rolling mill includes a first step for determining outgoing-side sheet thickness at each stand when rolling a constant region of a rolled member, and a second step for determining the outgoing-side sheet thickness of each stand when rolling the tip of the rolled member in a manner so that a pre-fastening load is no greater than a set value; the rolled member is rolled in a manner so as to become the outgoing-side sheet thickness determined in the second step at least until the very tip of the rolled member is engaged by each stand; the constant region of the rolled member is rolled to the outgoing-side sheet thickness determined in the first step by means of the N-m+1-th stand to the N-th stand; and the outgoing-side sheet thickness from the N-m+1-th stand to the N-th stand determined in the second step is thicker than the outgoing-side sheet thickness determined in the first step. The method for producing a hot-rolled steel sheet has a step that rolls a steel sheet using a hot-finishing mill array, the operation of which is controlled by said operation control method.