Provided is a resist underlayer film composition which is excellent in resistance to a basic hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution, in gap-filling and planarization characteristics, and in dry etching characteristic, wherein the resist underlayer film composition is used for a multilayer resist method, comprising: (A1) a polymer (1A) comprising one, or two or more, of a repeating unit represented by following general formula (1); (A2) one, or two or more, of a polyphenol compound having a formula weight of 2,000 or less and not having a 3,4-dihydroxy phenyl group; and (B) an organic solvent.