In order to understand the deformation characteristics of the tower during the hoisting process in offshore wind turbine installations, a three-dimensional finite element numerical model of the tower is established using Abaqus numerical analysis software. The influence of the tower thickness, length and diameter on the maximal deformation of the tower is analyzed. The results show that: when the tower is lifted in a horizontal position, the stress concentration occurs at the auxiliary lifting point, leading to yielding and failure; the maximal strain of the tower increases with the increase of the length and diameter of the tower and decreases with the increase of the tower thickness; based on the sensitivity analysis data, a maximal deformation prediction model of the tower is proposed based on Genetic Programming (GP), with an average error of only 6.19%. The numerical analysis results provide valuable insights for the construction of the offshore wind turbine tower during the lifting process.