The theory of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) reconstruction and the widely used layer-peeling (LP) algorithm are illustrated. The deficiency of LP algorithm in reconstructing strongly reflecting FBGs is pointed out and a hybrid method of combining genetic algorithm with LP algorithm is proposed. In this method, the preliminary values of the grating couple coefficients are obtained by using LP algorithm, and then genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the latter half of the results of the LP algorithm according to the re-sampled preliminary value with which the starting population of genetic algorithm are created. By numerical simulation, the novel method is proved to be fast convergent, very accurate, suitable for reconstructing most of strongly reflecting FBGs, and improve the result of LP algorithm effectively.