Ultralong hydroxyapatite nanowires have been successfully synthesized using calcium oleate as the calcium source and precursor and different kinds of phosphate sodium salts as the phosphorus sources in mixed solvent of ethanol and water by the solvothermal method. The effect of different kinds of phosphate sodium salts on the crystal phase and morphology of the product is investigated. One striking advantage of this method is that ultralong hydroxyapatite nanowires can be obtained by using a variety of phosphate sodium salts including Na2HPO4·12H2O, NaH2PO4·2H2O, Na3PO4·12H2O, Na5P3O10 and Na4P2O7·10H2O as the phosphorus source, indicating wide applicability and promising applications of this novel method. The products are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.