Experimental research on the thermochemical catalytic liquefaction of bloom-forming cyanobacteria (BC) was carried out to determine the effects of solvent, catalyst, reaction time, temperature, the ratio of raw material to solvent, and catalyst dosage on liquefaction performance. The liquefaction conditions were optimized by central composite design (CCD) experiments as follows: concentrated H2SO4 content, 6.6%; reaction temperature, 175 degrees C; reaction time, 30 min; and ratio of material to solvent, 1:4. The liquefaction yield and oil yield (chloroform phase) reached 93.85% and 37.96% under the above mentioned conditions. The ultimate analysis and calorific value of the oil were determined, and the chemical composition of the oil was investigated using gas chromatography mass spectrometry.(GC-MS) techniques and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The analysis of bio-oil composition showed that bio-oil from BC mainly contains ethyl palmitate, which is the main component of palm oil biodiesel, with a heating value of 32.7 MJ/kg.