Developing stable and efficient bifunctional catalysts for overall water splitting is a critical step in the production of renewable energy sources. Here we report a stable and highly active electrocatalyst comprised of NiCoSe2-x/N-doped carbon mushroom-like core/shell nanorods on silk-derived carbon fiber through one step selenization. The unique one-dimensional nanorod structure facilitates the charge transport, and the N-doped carbon shell also increases the electrical conductivity, resulting in a remarkable enhancement of the catalytic activity. The N-doped carbon shell also functions as a protection layer. The composite catalyst therefore exhibits outstanding OER and HER performance, it can also stably drive the overall water splitting at a low cell voltage of 1.53 V in base solution. The present work provides an efficient strategy for the fabrication of stable and active electrocatalysts with earth-abundant elements. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.