At present, biomedical optics has become a research method closely related to human medical health. Tissue phantoms have optical and mechanical properties similar to tissues and play an important role in the research of biooptical detection and imaging methods, instrument development, and system calibration. This review provides an overview of the preparation materials, preparation technology, and the progress relevant to the applied research, discussing the optical and mechanical properties of various imitated materials, advantages, disadvantages, and applicability of each type of material and process. The applications of phantoms in optical coherence tomography, photoacoustic imaging, and fluorescence imaging are summarized, and the development directions of phantoms in different applications are analyzed. This provides a reference for the selection and preparation of the relevant material in the study of biological optics.