The invention relates to a method for removing total nitrogen in oil refinery waste water. The method adopts the technical scheme with the following steps of leading the pretreated oil refinery waste water into an aeration tank (4), wherein the concentration of active sludge in the aeration tank (4) is 2000 to 3500mg/L, the concentration of dissolved oxygen is 1.5 to 3.5mg/L, and the temperature is 20 to 35 DEG C; feeding activated carbon powder or zeolite powder, hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and aerobic denitrifying bacteria into the aeration tank (4), wherein the feeding amounts of the activated carbon powder or zeolite powder, the hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and the aerobic denitrifying bacteria respectively account for 0.1 to 0.5vol%, 0.1 to 0.4vol% and 0.1 to 0.4vol% of effective capacity of the aeration tank (4); enabling the pretreated oil refinery waste water to stay in waterpower of the aeration tank (4) for 40 to 48h; enabling the effluent of the aeration tank (4) to stay in waterpower of a precipitation tank (6) for 1.5 to 2h. The method has the characteristics that the technology is simple, the synchronous nitrification and denitrification of ammonia and nitrogen in the waste water can be realized under the aerobic environment, the removing effect of the total nitrogen is good, the infrastructure investment is low, the running cost is low, and the management is convenient.