The present invention discloses a method for catalyzing olefin carbonylation, including the following steps: using cyclic alkylcarbene iridium as a catalyst and an olefin as a raw material to carry out carbonylation reaction to generate aldehydes, wherein a structural formula of the cyclic alkylcarbene iridium is as follows:






wherein Dipp is 2,6-diisopropylbenzene; R1 and R2 are methyl or ethyl; X is Cl, Br, CH3CO2, NO3, BF4, PF6 or SbF6; wherein the olefin comprises one or more of ethylene, propylene, butylene and higher carbon olefins. According to the method for catalyzing olefin carbonylation of the present invention, by adopting an iridium catalyst, the catalytic activity is good, reaction energy consumption is reduced, and reaction temperature is fully lowered.