The invention relates to a hydroformylation catalyst, which comprises an active component and a carrier carrying the active component, wherein the active component comprises a transition metal servingas a central atom and a polyhydroxy aromatic ring group combined with the transition metal; the transition metal and the polyhydroxy aromatic ring group are combined by at least one of a metal-hydroxyl coordination bond and a metal-oxygen covalent bond; and the active component comprises at least one of the metal-hydroxyl coordination bond and at least one of the metal-oxygen covalent bond. The invention also relates to a preparation method of the hydroformylation catalyst and the application of the hydroformylation catalyst.