This work was devoted to the investigation of the catalytic performance of a Ni catalyst supported on CeO₂, ZrO₂ and CeO₂–ZrO₂ in the upgrading of cellulose fast-pyrolysis vapors. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) were used for the surface characterization of the prepared materials. The activity of the catalysts was evaluated by analytical pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). It was demonstrated that the use of 20%Ni/15%CeO₂–ZrO₂ allowed one to obtain the highest olefin and paraffin contents, while owing to the application of 20%Ni/ZrO₂ catalyst the largest amount of aromatics was produced and a considerable decrease in the amount of carboxylic acid fraction was noticed.