The invention relates to a preparation method of an oil-soluble aquathermolysis catalytic viscosity reducer for thickened oil. The preparation method is characterized by comprising the following steps: 1) selecting the following raw materials in proper proportions: 3-5g of gallic acid, 5-10mL of halogenated hydrocarbon, 10-100mL of an organic solvent, 8-15g of anhydrous carbonate, 80-100mL of 2-5mol/L aqueous alkali, 100mL of absolute methanol and 3-7g of nickel salt; 2) adding gallic acid, halogenated hydrocarbon and anhydrous carbonate to a round-bottom flask respectively, next, adding the organic solvent, introducing nitrogen and performing heating and stirring reflux at a temperature of 50-70 DEG C for 12-24 hours, filtering the obtained product, and performing reduced-pressure rotary evaporation to obtain a transparent oily liquid, next, dissolving the product in the absolute methanol, adding the aqueous alkali, and hydrolyzing the product by virtue of reflux at a temperature in the range of 30-50 DEG C for 3 hours, performing reduced-pressure rotary evaporation to separate out the methanol, slowly and dropwise adding diluted hydrochloric acid to the solution until the pH value is in the range of 7-8, next, slowly and dropwise adding a nickel salt solution, stirring for reacting thoroughly, and then filtering and drying to obtain bluish powder, namely the oil-soluble aquathermolysis catalytic viscosity reducer.