Abstract: With toluene as the model compound of tar from biomass gasification, the catalytic properties of olivine and nickel catalysts supported on the olivine were analyzed for its performance on the reactions of toluene cracking and toluene/steam reforming in a fixed bed reactor. The catalysts were characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, and H₂-TPR. The results show that calcination changes the physical and chemical characteristics of the raw ore. The olivine catalysts show a catalytic activity on the reactions of catalytic cracking and steam reforming of toluene. However, with the addition of Ni the catalytic activity for toluene cracking reaction decreases, the toluene conversion rate reduces by 2.2%~9.8%; while the catalytic activity for toluene/steam reforming reaction rise obviously, the toluene conversion rate reaches up to 97.0%, and nickel catalyst supported on olivine shows great stability in steam reforming of toluene.