The invention discloses a hydrogenation catalyst as well as a preparation method and application thereof. The hydrogenation catalyst comprises a carrier and active
metal, the carrier is an aluminum
oxide core wrapped by a carbon shell, the active
metal is Mo and Ni, and on the basis of the weight of the catalyst, the content of MoO3 is 7.5 wt%-15.5 wt%, the content of NiO is 1.5 wt%-4.5 wt%, the content of carbon is 20 wt%-45 wt%, and the content of aluminum
oxide is 35 wt%-70 wt%; and the ratio
delta 1 of the content of the active
metal in the shell layer to the content of the active metal in the core layer is 0.25: 1-0.75: 1. The preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) preparing active metal modified flour; (2) preparing active metal modified pseudo-
boehmite microspheres; and (3) rolling the active metal modified flour and the active metal modified pseudo-
boehmite microspheres for molding, then carrying out heat treatment,
drying and
roasting to obtain the hydrogenation catalyst. The catalyst disclosed by the invention has relatively high metal
impurity capacity and relatively high Ca, Fe, Ni and V removal capacity, and is suitable for being used as a hydrogenation protection catalyst and a hydrodemetallization catalyst in a
residual oil hydrogenation process.