The invention relates to a non-noble metal supported selective hydrogenation catalyst and a preparation method and application thereof. The catalyst comprises a carrier, and a main active component and an auxiliary active component which are loaded on the carrier, wherein the main active component is nickel, and the auxiliary active component is at least one of Mo, La, Ag, Bi, Cu, Nd, Cs, Ce, Zn and Zr; and the active components exist in amorphous forms, the average grain diameter is less than 10 nanometers, and the catalyst is prepared by a micro-emulsion method. The catalyst has evenly distributed active components and high dispersity, and can resist the erosion of poisonous materials of arsenium, sulfur and the like. The catalyst has good hydrogenation performance which is higher than that of the prior level of the conventional non-noble metal catalyst and is close to the level of a noble metal Pd catalyst in the reaction for removing acetylene hydrocarbon through C2 selective hydrogenation.