The effect of different solvents on the hydro liquefaction of sawdust with ionic liquid nickel catalyst was investigated. Subsequently, effects of different parameters on the liquefaction behavior of sawdust were explored with the suitable solvent. The optimized results with bio-oil yield of 58.51% were obtained using ethanol solvent at 320 degrees C and 10 min with solvent/biomass of 10 mL/g. The higher heating values of the bio-oil was 26.02 MJ center dot kg(1), which was higher than that of sawdust. According to the GCMS analysis, the major compound in light oil was ethyl esters, and the components of heavy oil were mainly consisted of ethylbenzene other benzene derivatives.